Lectures ar completly pointless but he takes attendence which is a bummmer so you kinda have to go if you want the points. Tests were a bit difficult just because some questions were very random or worded weird. TAs were helpful though mine, Kelli, graded papers hard. Easy enough class, all from the book. Winant is a loon.

boring but i went to class cause he takes attendance. i never paid attention ever and still did okay. Theres 2 take home essays(3-4 pages)& a take home final(8 pages). He gives you the topics in the beginning of the quarter. I barely did any work for this class & wrote the essays last minute & got a B- on both. so it'd be prety easy to do well

The lectures were interesting, but not relevant to the tests. The tests were tough. Also, He makes his political views known, and if you disagree, prepare to be very annoyed! My TA, Rachel, was very helpful and always available. She also graded the essays very fairly.

His lectures are interesting if you want to hear about his life and enjoy the random tangents he tends to go on. I kinda got a kick out of it but he takes attendance so you kinda have to sit threw the hour and fifteen minutes if you want the points. Very little information can be learned from him it's all out of the book which is easy to understand

It is not that he is a bad teacher, he just teaches like a high school teacher. He gets off topic to have fun, and he makes it easy enough so that you dont stress over his class. I reccommend taking this class when you have a difficult quarter and dont want to overload yourself.

lectures are pretty pointless, hard to know what he's talking about because he goes off on a lot of tangents. reading is a must, and the TAs make everything worth while. interesting subject, but boring professor

Very funny guy. Great professor. Lectures are somewhat useful but youd be better off learning the key points from the textbook.

His class is so easy I completely missed the final exam and still passed. This professor is painful to listen to. He loves to "trip out" and go off on tangents not related to any assigned reading. He also relies heavily on the TAs to teach us the material in section rather than in lecture.

I found this professor useless. His lecture was not helpful and he took attendance at lecture because they were useless. I did not enjoy lecture at all and I found the topic interesting before I had the class. My TA was the only thing that made this class worth while.

He is probably the weirdest teacher I have ever had. Pretty off the wall and random. I did poorly on his tests but got a great essay grade. After this class I was not interested in any further studies in Sociology.

He may be a bit bias at times, as some people complain, but he gives a very compelling argument and mainly sticks to the facts. A very very intelligent man.

Awful professor!!! I learned absolutely nothing by attending lecture because all he talked about were his socialist/communist political views. It's pointless to attend lecture---just read the book and you'll do fine.

the papers and tests seem to be about the readings. lecture can be confusing. as a person he is a pretty interesting guy.

He's really amazing!

its all about the reading, class...pretty pointless.

Class was kind of pointless, but book reading is a must. Although his lectures were not very effective, he did have some good stuff to say about politics and social issues. A cool guy, but a boring class. Pretty easy though.

I actually liked the class. My grade wasn't the best but I didn't really do any of the reading. He doesn't preach as much as others have said. If he is unable to hide his political views its because of frustration with the current situation. Plus, there was a disclaimer that he repeated about how sociology can get political so the whiners can stfu

There is really no point in attending lecture unless you want to hear Professor Winant's political opinion. I didn't realize that sociology was a class about socialism. Winant makes lecture attendance mandatory probably because no one would go otherwise. Despite this, the course material itself is pretty interesting.

I actually enjoyed lecture but simply because I liked hearing him talk; he's got some fascinating things to say, but these things have nothing to do with the tests. It was a huge amount of reading and while the subject was interesting, it was almost impossible to grasp everything he wanted you to know in 10 weeks.

Possibly the worst professor you will have at UCSB his lectures are pointless and by far the most boring I've ever attended, they aren't worth coming to except he takes attendence. The tests are based on obscure facts barley covered in lecture or quickly mentioned in the book. In short save yourself a horrible 10 weeks and wait for another teacher.

Lectures are pointless. Midterms and the final was multiple choice, but it was hard. There is a lot of reading for the class. I would never take this course with this professor again. I would recommend this course with a different professor.

he is INTERESTING. his lectures have nothing to do with the actual course. but luckily, the course is easy. it's mostly just memorizing terms since it's an intro course. the paper is easy and you get to put in your own views. i suggest not going to lecture, but he takes roll. plus, he says a lot of funny things that make it worth going...sometimes

umm... he basically preaches liberalism for an hour and a half... lectures have NOTHING to do with the testsand are pointless, but he still makes you go... interesting subject, but not a great teacher

Today he talked about masturbation...yup that was the highlight of the quarter