Biography
Joseph Blankholm is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He’s the author of numerous essays, as well as The Secular Paradox: On the Religiosity of the Not Religious (NYU Press, 2022), which is an ethnography of very secular people in the United States.
Blankholm researches the secular and spiritual traditions that are becoming more popular as religious affiliation declines in the U.S. His current research, an intergenerational study of the transmission of values, is funded by a $2.8m grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The project is part of the Longitudinal Study of Generations, which first began in 1970 and now includes the fifth-generation descendants of the original participants. Blankholm also conducted the Secular Communities Survey in 2021, which is the largest survey of organized nonbelievers ever fielded.
Blankholm is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion and Sociology of Religion, and he was a fellow of the Young Scholars in American Religion program in 2018-19. He occasionally serves as an expert witness on religion, working on behalf of defendants on death row.
Candidate Statement
The AAR’s At-Large Directors “represent the needs and interests of the general AAR membership to the Board of Directors.” I want to hear more about what irks and excites AAR’s members. How can we cultivate more opportunities to see old friends, make new ones, and learn about the cutting-edge research in our shared field? How can we make the most of our time together each year? And how can we foster a safe and healthy community of scholars? Surely, there are ways we can improve.
Working in AAR’s leadership has given me some perspective. I first became involved in the AAR as a graduate student. I helped organize the Secularism and Secularity program unit, which I later co-chaired for several years. The AAR’s program units provide special opportunities that many of us can’t find elsewhere. They help us learn from one another and develop collaborations. And for those of us trying new directions, they help us nurture our hunches. It’s through the AAR that we can even speak of having a “field,” and it’s through healthy program units that our field can continue to grow.
I became involved in AAR leadership as a member of the Committee on Professional Conduct, which I now chair. I took the helm during a provisional period, when the AAR was evaluating its initial policies. During my time as chair we’ve adjudicated several complaints about policy violations, including sexual harassment. Learning from our experiences, the AAR has changed some of its policies and restructured the Committee on Professional Conduct to make it more effective. These are positive changes, but there’s still room for improvement. The Committee’s work is a vital way for the organization to hold itself accountable.
From listening to friends and colleagues, I know that the AAR has several pressing issues. One is the cost of attending the conference. While some institutions provide support for members whatever the cost, others provide far less, and some members don’t have institutional support. It’s imperative that we find a pricing model that works for all AAR members.
Another issue is job placement and networking. As more interviews are conducted over Zoom—and as more jobs are off the tenure track—the AAR’s role is changing. Figuring out how the AAR can best meet the needs of candidates and hiring committees is crucial if the organization is to continue functioning as our guild.
There’s no simple solution to these challenges, but we can do better. I plan to work on these issues if elected, and I hope to hear from members about other needs and concerns so I can advocate for them to the Board of Directors.