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 ):

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 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.

Professor Blankholm is a great young dude who is very passionate about his studies and tries to get all his students equally engaged. Lectures are not mandatory but sections are but you dont want to skip many lectures because this is where most of the midterm/final material is from. Genuinely interested in your opinions and you as a person.

Professor Blankholm was by far my favorite professor of Fall 2018. Even though the lecture slides are posted, they aren't much help if you don't attend the lecture. There isn't a book for his class, but there are printed readings (TIP: print 4 pages on one page to save paper!). Is extremely helpful outside of class.

Professor Blankholm is extremely passionate and knowledgable in his field of study and is definitely one of the most engaging professors I've ever had at UCSB. I absolutely LOVED this class and cannot recommend highly enough. Beneficial not only as a GE (worth 5 units) but also for a change in perception of your own life. TAKE THIS CLASS!!!

Blankholm is a great guy but if you are taking this class with zero interest in politics, do not take it. There are many amendments and court cases that you are going to need to memorize. His lectures are very skeletal and it's difficult to understand the point of his lecture if you're not interested. Otherwise, he's a funny and easy going prof.

You dont have to buy a textbook, but you need to print each weeks readings (you will waste a lot of ink/paper). There will be a quiz every Friday, but theyre not bad. Hes a great teacher and you can tell he loves what he does. He will definitely get on your case for being on your phone and you cant use your laptops in class either.

Lots of weekly online readings which is what the quizzes in section are based off of. One 7-page paper worth 30% of your grade that you have the whole quarter to write. Pretty chill class. Joe is so funny and a great professor. You'll enjoy it. Unclear study guides though for tests, so ATTEND LECTURE. His midterm and final are based on lectures.

Professor Blankholm is a great lecturer. His RGST 35 class is very interesting and doesn't require much time outside of class. Attendance is important if you want a good grade.

Blankholm was an amazing professor. His lectures were interesting and informative, and he was super nice and approachable in office hours. The reading quizzes were annoying but manageable, and the midterm was easy and straightforward as long as you went to class and did the readings. The one essay was pretty easy too. Would definitely recommend.

I loved Blankholm as a teacher, even though I wasn't completely happy with my grade at the end of the course. The most important thing to do is the readings because there are weekly quizzes in section to make sure you read, and even if you do well on the midterm and final, if you fail all the weekly quizzes, it'll bring your grade down a lot.