I found this class to be very interesting and the professor to be a fair grader and funny during lecture. Just be aware that there are such things as stupid questions to him (during office hours). If you have a question during class, he will totally listen and give you the answers you need. I'm not sure why he acts differently during office hours.

Prof. Blankholm is so passionate about his work and it shows and makes it easier to understand what he's talking about in lecture. There's a weekly quiz in section on the readings, but it's just basic comprehension. The midterm and the final are based on what is described in the lecture, so you have to go to every class, but he makes it enjoyable.

Blankholm is an amazing speaker and seems like such a genuine and funny person. He definitely speaks in complex terms and can be hard to understand/focus on during lecture. For midterm and final, you just need to review everything in the lecture slides and you'll be fine, even if you may have zoned out a bit during lecture. Very interesting class!

This was the most interesting class I have ever taken in my life. Id warn you tho, that he does speak super fast in lectures. that really fast. He is an amazing teacher tho. Mandatory reading quizzes every section (super easy). i loved this class honestly, and im a stem major. gonna miss this ):

Absolutely loved this class. It completely changed the way I view the world and while the readings were dense at times, they were really rich. Everything graded pretty leniently and lots of opportunities for extra credit. Prof is clearly passionate about the subject and was very helpful in office hours.

Incredibly performative and insincere in both his teaching and interactions with students. Texts were too long and dense for a GE class, the TA got me through them. Take this class if you don't care about your professor being full of himself and a fake activist. He masks this insincerity by being a dynamic speaker, but he is the worst.

Professor Blankholm is a fantastic speaker. The content he speaks about is occasionally long-winded but he makes it engaging regardless. The readings are dense but get oversimplified during lecture (which is for the best). The tests require little studying/preperation if you consistently attend lecture and do the readings. Would recommend!

I really enjoyed this class because I found the content to be really interesting. It's really reading heavy, and I struggled through a good bit of them, but my TA was super helpful. It was a lot of work, so not an easy GE but still a great class. If you go to class and do the readings you should do fine. Offers extra credit, helpful office hours

Least favorite professor I've ever had. Very performative when it comes to social justice, and he has a raging superiority complex. Class was not as described in GOLD; readings were extremely dense and long for a GE arts class. Feigns respect for students' concerns and social justice issues. Overall, this class always left me feeling frustrated.

RGST 35 is an awesome course, and so is this one. It was definitely more challenging, but it's also 5 units, so I think that is fair. It honestly changed my perspective about everything, not just religion and pop culture. He knows the material is difficult and adjusts to accommodate that. Take this class! It takes work but it's worth it.

Professor acted like everything he said was a new profound idea that he created, even though it was a regurgitation of other peoples ideas. Did not practice what he preached in terms of social justice which uninspired me. The readings are super long and difficult to understand, TA got me through the readings.

Prof is nice but the class wasn't anything like what the info page described. It was mostly theory and philosophical stuff. There was a ton of reading and most of it was not relevant to current pop culture at all. The readings rarely made sense and a good TA was all that got me through it. 30% paper, 45% midT+ final, 25% section quizzes/attendance.

This class was so interesting. There was a lot of reading and you did have to pay good attention, but if you stay focused the midterm and final are very fair. The professor is amazing, approachable, and keeps you engaged in lecture. I would 100% take this class again.

Very interesting class, but heavy on the readings. He's a great lecturer and is very passionate about his lectures.

Great speaker, highly knowledgeable, I could listen to this guy talk forever. Decent amount of reading, but super relevant so it went quickly. Complicated concepts, somewhat easy grader. Pretty heavy GE, but worth it. Lectures were posted on gauchospace, but just go to lecture, the discussions were fantastic.

Super interesting lectures. By far my favorite course/professor in my first quarter at UCSB.

Professor Blankholm is very good with technology & made navigating an online class during a pandemic very easy. His excitement about the material really shined through in his lectures. This course was extremely reading-intensive, however, so be prepared for that. It was a really fun course though. Professor Blankholm highly encourages discussion.

Professor Blankholm is really passionate about the work that he does. He is a great lecturer, who gets the class interested and involved. You can tell he really enjoys teaching. He welcomes different views. Participation matters. This course had some harshly graded papers, but otherwise was enjoyable. I would definitely take a class with him again.

Really great professor. Took his class online and found his lectures interesting. You can tell he's passionate and wants his students to do well. Keep up with lectures and you'll be good. The exams were pretty fair. I found that if you can thoroughly answer the discussion questions with the TA then you'll be good to go for exams.

This class is really interesting if you're actually interested in religion and politics. It is a lot of work, especially for a GE. There are a lot of opportunities for extra credit. It's a very educational class, but again a lot of work.

Blankholm is a great guy and an even greater teacher. He really cares about the material and the students. He doesn't speak down to you in an attempt to dumb things down, so there are certainly some big concepts to digest in this course; do the readings and the lectures and you'll do great, though. Highly recommend this class.

Professor Blankholm was an incredible professor. He is really informed about everything he teaches and is super passionate about all materials. This class really encourages you to examine the world in a new way, looking at the vast intersections of religion and politics and the power of language. Would HIGHLY recommend this class and professor!

One of my favorite professors, you can tell he's super passionate about what he teaches. Class is super doable especially since there's no homework just do the readings and lectures and you'll be fine. Offers a lot of extra credit too.

LOVE Blankholm. He did an amazing job with engaging lectures in async format. RG ST 35 isn't bad at all for 5 credits, maybe 2 hours of lectures a week and a discussion post. If you take decent notes and focus on the big concepts, you'll be fine. No textbook, so that was great. Lots of extra credit opportunities and lots of freedom on term paper.