Dr. Blankenship earned her Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 2010 in Social Studies Education. Prior to her move to higher education, Dr. Blankenship taught history and social studies at the secondary level for seventeen years. She joined the faculty of Rhode Island College in the fall of 2012 teaching in the Departments of Educational Studies and History for six years before returning to the secondary classroom. Dr. Blankenship is currently teaching history at Meridian World School in Round Rock, Texas. She is the editor of Teaching the Struggle for Civil Rights: 1948-1976.