This guy is great. Really makes you think. I'm a better person because I took his class. He knows so much and teaches us how to learn. Take his classes!

I took Thomas with my roommate (using her computer), and we had a great time in his class. The literature was ahrd (esp. Burroughs!) but he was a solid teacher that tried to help us see the world and literature in a new way. I wld recommend him to anyone who likes to read and to think!!

Super professor! He totally changed the way I think about children's literature and children too.... this is the class to take if your interested in changing the way you think (in a good way!). Cool guy and super smart too. Every teacher should take children's literature from him.

Super sweet, super smart, he's the BOMB. I recommned him to everyone at SDSU, whether youre a liberal studies major or not. Perfect blend of smart, cute, and down to earth.

Out of sight teacher. professor thomas (don't call him "Joe", but you can call him Joseph--he's not stuffy at all) is really knowledgeable about children's literature and theory and poetry. He's down to earth and scary intellegent: but he never makes you feel dumb. Instead its inspirational. I wanted to do better just to make him think I was smart!

Great class and great professor. I'm a woman, and he's totally feminist, makes women feel good and at home, but he's also quite good looking, which doesn't hurt!

Second time I've had him. Superb professor. Not for people who aren't self directed. He treats you like a scholar, and expects to be treated the same. He really creates a great opportunity for learning.

One of the most eye-opening experiences of my life, and I've been around the block, in the "real" world and the academic one. Prof Thomas is smart, engaging, and clever. Learn something about the world: take Prof. Thomas!

The best professor for theory you can take. Do yourself a favor, sign up for JTT's course!

Great professor. A real person who's a real scholar and a real writer. Best member of the English faculty. Good for grads and undergrads. Highly recommended!!!

One of the most interesting classes I have taken. He takes what seems like clear-cut concepts and portrays them in a way unlikely to be thought of before. He jokes with his students with humor they can appreciate. Attendance is mandatory, but he makes you want to go. Do all of the readings if you want an A.

Great professor who challenges students and has a great sense of humor. Highly recommend!

I took him for science fiction (!) and loved it. Come to class and contribute. He's cool about you disagreeing with him, but can have a wicked sense of humor. Lots of drug talk, but since every book we read (including Naked Lunch) dealt with drugs, I guess that's cool. He's been around the block. Lots of theory. AMAZING CLASS AMAZING TEACHER!!

He who came highly recommended was a great disappointment. Ever since he's received tenure he's been on permanent vacation. He texts in class (yes, the professor) and actually falls asleep during his graduate students' presentations! Also, cancels class a lot due to "migraines." Don't waste your time or money on what used to be a good teacher.

Best teacher I've had at SDSU. I'm not a english major, but really liked his class. Smart and fun. Took in spring 2011. Wish I could take him another time but my last semester. Oh well! You can though!

Great course, fun, interesting, useful. Thomas is a poet& a researcher, wrote books about childrens poetry (Poetry&Playground) and a book of poetry for adults (experimental avant garde stuff)& tons of essays, so who better to teach a class on poetry and childhood? Nobody, that's who! SDSU is lucky to have him. Enroll in his class b4 he moves on!

Great class, great prof.

Learned so much about poetry I just can't say (maybe I should write a poem!? Not!) knowledgable about traditional & experimental poetries. Definitely try a class with Thomas.

If you're interested in the nuts and bolts of poetry, take professor JT. From mainstream, conservative poetic forms to experimental, avant-garde approaches, he covers it all. I'm an MFA student, and even though the class had bunches of undergraduate, I was never bored and always found prof JT's insights useful and inspiring.

The class was very interesting. He's demanding, wants high level writing. Lectures some times but normally it's conversation about the readings and topics relating to them. I agree with most people posting below.He's a nice man who makes class time fun.

Man, he's a cool teacher. Sometimes loose, but basically clear and definitely mind-expanding. Never thought about writing poetry the same way after taking his class. If you're interested in writing or poetry, Thomas is the guy for you.

Best graduate class I've taken. I'm now in my 2nd year, & am almost finished with my MA Thesis. Looking back on my career @ SDSU, undergrad & grad, I can say that Professor Thomas's Intro to Grad Studies class (600) is the best course I had, which is sad, because it was the first MA class I took. I didn't get to take Thomas again. Wish I had.

Best professor ever!

Most thought provoking professor ever. Class discussions are animated, and he really cares what students think. Take this professor, its a great way to begin grad school.

I really enjoy his course. We're not finished yet, but it's been a great experience. He doesn't "lecture," but he "talks" about the works in such an engaging, warm, and human way. ALl the while being thoughtful and smart. SDSU is lucky to have him as a professor!!

Very knowledgeable and thought provoking. One of my favorite professors so far. He is fun and easy to listen to and down to earth.

A world renowned expert in his field, Professor T may be famous, but he's still really laid back and cool. Some might say he's TOO laid back (not me!) because he's slow to get papers back & prefers to meet with students and talk about their ideas than write comments or give grades, but if you do the work & try, he'll meet you halfway. GREAT prof!

Good prof.

I'm a chemistry major, and took this for an easy A. But Professor T is great teacher. The work is not too hard, but the stuff he goes over relates to a lot more than children's literature. And he's soooo cute!

Quite cool and generous. Smart and with it, Professor Thomas is the ideal professor. I can not recommend him highly enough!

I love Professor JT! So cute & smart: watching him lecture is divine! Gen Ed students give him a try cause he's fun and class is like going 2 a movie!

Prof. Thomas is amazingly smart and knowledgeable. One of the best classes I've ever taken. Highly recommended!

Professor Thomas is outstanding in his field. Take this class!

Dr. Thomas' interests are in children's literature and comics, etc. The course I took from him on Shel Silverstein was really enlightening to me. His energy of the material translated itself through the class, whether acting out some "Shel's Shorts," or writing essays. I highly recommend taking a class from Dr. Thomas.

Amazing prof! Take a class from professor Thomas. If you can make it happen, make it happen!

Mr.Thomas is awesome! I took his online English Lit class and lets just say it was a breeze! He is a very structured & organized teacher so you will never feel lost. He is very helpful! 1 reflection, 1 response & 1 additional discussion question a week along with 3 correlating tweets & 3 short essays(500 word) which includes midterm/final. EASY!

JT is a great lecturer, but not a very personable teacher. If you have a question, better forget it, ask someone else, or look it up yourself. He always seems to be running off to somewhere. Verging on "hipster" with his required tweets and attitude, he is nonetheless brilliant and will definitely open you up to looking at literature in new ways.

Great prof! Great writer! I love his lectures & the books he selects. Super smart & very personable. He's not the kind of teacher who wants students to be his friends, but that just means he's professional.

In class he said, "Please: be interesting." That's what he asks, for students to be interesting. He holds up his side of the deal. You get what you put into his class. The readings were interesting, and discussions long ranging. I recommend him highly.

Professor Thomas is so cool. He makes me blush sometimes.

A superb prof! I highly recommend him. YOu have to come to class and do the reading, but the lectures are super interesting and the material very interesting. Take him if you have the chance. Favorite professor I've had at State!

This science fiction class was amazing! I learned a lot and the readings were interesting. Highly recommend the class and the professor. Cool guy, very smart.

Superb course taught by a beautiful man. I could listen to him talk about literature all day. Great sense of style with a brilliant mind! TAKE if you can!!

Great course. Take if you can.

After a miserable experience I had in a lit class I took previous semester, Prof. Thomas is a breath of fresh air. He assigns interesting texts, gives engaging lectures, group projects were surprisingly not bad, and I really liked how he incorporated Twitter in the class. Would definitely take him again if given the chance.

Professor Thomas is a great professor. Funny, smart, maybe a little arrogant. But the arrogance is deserved. Give him a try.

Professor Thomas is a great teacher. He is a superb lecturer who always has something interesting and provocative to say. Group presentations are required, and though they're okay, I usually can't wait for them to be over so he can take charge again. Definitely take one (or more!) of his classes!

G8 prof!

Enlightening lectures that makes you rethink children's literature. Superfun, but a lot of books on the syllabus, one book each week. Two tweets a week, a presentation and take the midterm and final and you got yourself an A.

Professor Thomas rocks. I encourage everyone to take him! Smart and provocative, and very laid back. He really makes children's literature more interesting than I thought it would be before I enrolled!

Superb professor!

Dr. Thomas is one of the most intelligent people I've ever met and will make you analyze books like Alice in Wonderland and the Hunger Games with critical theory you never thought was relevant. Plus, he's cute and has a great taste in music! If I could, I'd take him again.

Professor Thomas is an incredible teacher. He's top in his field yet super chill. If you're at SDSU, you should take him for at least one class!

A really good class taught by a really great teacher. Can't recommend enough.

I took this as my G.E. class as a non-major and really enjoyed it. Read one novel and sometimes additional short readings each week. Professor Thomas leads thought provoking class discussions (they can get drug/sex related based on what is read) that open up for student input. Overall a fun class that makes you reconsider science fiction as a genre

Excellent professor. Very, VERY down to Earth, modern, open-minded, and all-around good guy. He'll push you to go further in your written reflections, but totally grades fairly. No surprises. Even for a condensed summer course, the timing and deadlines are perfectly spanned. I feel good after taking his course.

Amazing prof! Definitely take him. Thoughtful and entertaining. Best English professor I ever had.

Someone doesn't get his sense of humor... I'm a girl & I enjoyed his class! I love how laid back the atmosphere was & the choice of books we read. The only thing I didn't like were all the group presentations, but they're really nothing to stress out about. Also no essays & no final! Just a couple of writing assignments online + tweeting.

Reading can get pretty heavy sometimes so try not to fall behind. One group project, a short-answer midterm and one short-essay final along with a final creative project. He offers a lot of extra credit opportunities though, he really doesn't want to fail anyone, just do the work and you'll be good.

Professor Thomas is amazing! His lectures are always engaging, interesting, and helpful. His sense of humor also spices up his lectures, and I always look forward to his class. There is quite a lot of reading, but nothing too crazy that's not doable. Participation matters, so show up to class. You can tell he really loves what he does.

Super good lecturer. Never boring - best professor at State!

A life-changing class! Can't praise him highly enough.

One of the best classes I ever took. Professor Thomas is so smart and approachable. Definitely recommended!

Superb class by a superb professor. He is a real scholar who is active in his field. We're lucky to have him at State!

Very easy going and approachable. He lectures everyday, but it's fun and not hard to follow. He encourages participation, so class feels more like a discussion. He's witty and not too strict. He uses Twitter, which makes it easy to reach him, as well as other classmates. Easy class with interesting topics! Hope to take him again!

When you have Professor Thomas, you'll see why he is an English teacher. He speaks with such great passion and the stories he chooses for the class to read are gems. The class is broken up into groups and gives one project per group, his final is only one written in-class essay, and you have to print out all of the readings. Be prepared to speak!

Professor Thomas is the best professor in the English department. As many people have said, his lectures are brilliant. He really knows his stuff. He's also a great scholar and poet too. Can't recommend his classes high enough. If you have the chance, take his classes!

Puts together an amazing reading list! Learned so much about comics. Highly recommend!!!

This class utilizes readings that you will have to pay for and they are totally worth it! Excellent comic choices and the homework is the same every week: 2 Tweets, an engaging discussion post (reflection and response,) and a quiz. As long as you stay on top of these, you're golden. No Zoom classes, though I wish I got to know the professor more!

TAKE THIS CLASS! Professor is such a nice and understanding guy, the only way you wont pass is if you don't do work. This class was my favorite and the only class I actually took interest in. Reading a new comic each week, reflection, response, tweets, and quiz. Super nice guy and easy if you just do work. If I could take this class again I would!

read a new comic each week, discussion posts (reflection and response, quiz, and 2 tweets; quizzes easy if you read; was supposed to be in person but changed to online so I wish I could see how he is in person; extra credit opportunities

Other than the fact that he grades stuff extremely late, it was a very fun class and the required readings were eye-opening. His reading list looks boring, but the material is in fact quite fascinating and open for interpretation. Only thing we had to do was basically analyze what we read, give opinion on others, and tweet twice a week, very chill.

Took the asynchronous class. Some of the comics are interesting to read and take about 1-2 hours to read, but if you keep up with your work then you should be fine. Weekly discussion post and response plus quiz. The professor graded all the discussion posts are the very last minute, but didn't grade strict.

Great professor! Highly recommended!

ENGL157 is a lot of reading. It's an easy humanities course, just make sure to respect the class by doing the readings. If you do so, everything will be fine.

Amazing professor! Lucky to have him at SDSU: look for his essays that are available for free on Academia dot com: he's low-key but wow a really productive writer who knows his stuff. He'll challenge you but doesn't focus on grades. Come to class & do the work, you'll have an amazing experience. Highly recommend!

Great professor! Highly recommend you take his courses!

I really liked this class. Dr. Thomas gave great lectures and encouraged students to participate and engage. The exams were entirely based on lectures and content, so take detailed notes! He also offers extra credit on your notes, so they matter a lot.

Great professor! His teaching style works well if you engage with it. The lectures and textbook are worth it. Use unstuck study and other study tools to ace this class.

Thomas is a great professor! His lectures were thought-provoking and engaging. He is not a draconian-- he is accessible outside class. There were many theoretical concepts covered in class that influences how we analyze literature; he is a tough grader but this is a 500 level class. Great sense of humor-- will be taking another of his classes.

Took this class over the summer in 6 weeks, and it was super interesting! Went in blind and learned so much from it. All dystopian-based novels, both children's and adults which made it even more interesting. Few assignments and papers. Very thoughtful class.

I low key had zero clue what he was talking about half the time but the rest of class did so maybe that's just me, no outside homework other than mid term and final. He's super funny and curses every other second. Takes attendance and if you skip your grade will tank

Professor Thomas is an amazing professor! Take him if you have the chance. Very funny and engaging: just be sure to come to class, lectures crucial to your exams.