Professor Blankholm since day one tells you that if you miss lecture, you will not do well on the midterm & final. Why? Because although he posts the PowerPoints, most of what you learn is what he mentions in class. He clearly knows what he is talking about and remains unbiased for the most part, if you care about that. Definitely recommend.

i did terrible in this class but it was my own fault, as i put in very little effort and turned in our 1 paper a week late. blankholm is a GREAT professor and loves his subject. the reading doesn't really relate to class and we jump around from topic to topic but theres a lot of interesting stuff. attend class/take notes and youll do fine

Best professor I've ever had at UCSB! The course was interesting, and Blankholm is so passionate and engaging, made it easy to stay awake and focused. Readings and assignments are not too heavy and not difficult to complete, and the midterm and final are easily doable. Definitely recommend this class and professor to anybody!

Interesting class but I honestly think Blankholm was the reason I enjoyed it. The midterm and final should be fairly easy if you attend lecture and at least try to keep up with the online readings assigned each week. Attendance is not mandatory but Blankholm makes lectures pretty engaging and even funny at times. 10/10 would recommend.

Great professor, you could tell he really cared about the topic and made it interesting. Reading is printed out every week only about 30-60 pages but make sure to read closely or you won't pass the section quizzes. One essay that required just a little research, pretty fair. Overall, if this topic seems interesting to you, you will love this class.

Amazing lecturer and very engaging. Readings aren't from a textbook, but are primary sources he has you print each week and there are quizzes at the beginning of section each week on the reading. Lecture slides are posted online, but to get the whole plethora of information, go to class, otherwise it's just skeletal and unhelpful. Loved this class!

He's a really awesome dude. The class is very lecture heavy and even though he posts slides online he leaves a lot of key things out. The Ta's were both awesome. The majority of the class is midterm, final, and a research paper. Very interesting class.

Class revolves around lectures and readings (relevant articles found online). Grade is made up of mostly midterm, final, and one end of the quarter paper. Tests are very lecture heavy, but the lectures are interesting if you are into this kind of thing. Weekly reading quizzes and the reading can be kind of a lot some weeks. Overall, good class.

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.

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 very passionate about what he teaches, and it is conveyed even in an online lecture. The content is always engaging and I thoroughly looked forward to lecture. Taking another class with him again!

Slides and lectures were clear, interesting, & easy to follow/understand. Readings were long & complicated but TAs helped break it down. Tests based off of lectures more than readings. Very understanding and accommodating given online class structure.

I can't praise Professor Blankholm enough. Took him during the COVID pandemic and this class handled the situation stunningly well. His lectures are interesting and well-structured. The class reading was hard but there were many resources to better understand. He's one of the best professors I've had at UCSB.

Blankholm is an incredible professor, he clearly cares immensely about his work and his students. He's very easy to get in touch with and is willing to help you with anything. His grading is straight forward. In this class you get to go to a religious site of your choosing to do hands on research, highly recommend!

Fantastic professor with a lot if knowledge to share. Extremely smart guy that clearly knows his material and is passionate for it. Super interesting content, and engaging subject matter. Really cares about his students, and genuinely wants everyone to succeed. I'm a STEM major, but this was definitely one of my favorite courses at UCSB

Amazing lecturer, made it worth getting up for the 8AM. Amazing readings & you get to do research on a field site of your choosing leading up to a final paper of 8-10 pages. Midterm and final are the same format, but the final also has an essay, and are straightforward tests if you go to lecture (which is mandatory anyway). Super caring, love him!

Prof Blankholm is one of my favorite professors at UCSB. He is SO passionate about American religion and it shows in his lectures. They are riveting. There are about 30 pgs of reading per week, but no textbook, which is nice. One easy essay due at the end. Midterm(s) and final were totally fair. I can't wait to take one of his upper divs.