ACCT 280 - History Through Accounting

Planned Offering: Spring 2018 and alternate years.
Credits: 4

This class explores the development of accounting through the study of historical economic, business, and cultural issues. From Venetian merchants to recent scandals, this course seeks to learn how accounting has impacted society and vice versa. The course begins by reviewing early evidence of accounting methods as important tools for decision makers and then moves on to the development of financial reporting, with a large focus on the history of the railroad industry in the U.S. The class combines readings with site visits to libraries, historical societies, and businesses to dig into the forces that have helped shape accounting into the science it is today. Fafatas.