[quote name='mykevermin']Lilly, Cullen, and Ball, eh? Well, I know the first two quite well, and have taken classes from them both. It's a good text. Quite good.
Gang Leader for a Day? Pppptttttthhhhbbbb. I'm no fan of Venkatesh - not the one research project he's been riding on for a decade and a half, and certainly not the "Barnes and Noble" version of his research that is Gang Leader for a Day.
UW Madison? Noice. One of the top Soc programs in the nation.[/quote]
I think I told you I went here before, under the name Apossum.

I'm graduating this semester and I have to say it has been great (though my experience is pretty compressed since I transferred in.) This one prof is the only one I've had issues with. It's kind of a shame that my last soc class is kind of ruined, but on the other hand, it'll be an easy A.
The main text is pretty good...though I mostly skip around in it since the lectures normally cover the material. Gang Leader For A Day was a quick read, but hard to take completely seriously. I don't believe he remembered and wrote down all those direct quotes each day after hanging out, yet it's overflowing with dialogue and trying to pass itself off as authentic at the same time. All the people in my group thought Venkatesh was a bit slimy and perhaps, dishonest. I didn't go so hard on him :lol: