Sudhir Venkatesh at Siena

Sudhir Venkatesh

Sudhir Venkatesh

Here's something interesting for Wednesday evening: Sudhir Venaktesh will be speaking at Siena.

Sudwho? Venkatesh is a sociologist who's done some interesting work about inner cities. His most recent book, Gang Leader for a Day, is about what he learned after embedding himself in a Chicago neighborhood the cops said was "too dangerous" for them. From a blurb:

In Hollywood-speak, Gang Leader for a Day is The Wire meets Harvard University. It's a brazen, page turning, and fundamentally honest view into the morally ambiguous, highly intricate, often corrupt struggle to survive in what is tantamount to an urban war zone. It is also the story of a complicated friendship between Sudhir and JT-two young and ambitious men a universe apart.

He's also studied the economics of inner cities.

Here's Venkatesh on NPR and talking with Stephen Colbert.

Venkatesh's talk starts at 7:30 pm in Siena's Key Auditorium. It's free.

photo: Sudhir Venkatesh

Find It

Siena's Key Auditorium
515 Loudon Rd
Loudonville, NY 12211

The Key Auditorium is in the Roger Bacon building (campus map).

Comments

I believe this guy's findings were also in the book Freakonomics. Sounded like a pretty interesting* experience.

*read: I'm glad he went there and not me.

@Lathamite: Yeah, I think Freakonomics is the place he started to gain wide attention. More recently, he's been contributing to the Freakonomics blog.

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