Caroline Bynum

Who is Caroline Bynum?

Caroline Walker Bynum is an American Medieval scholar. She is a University Professor emerita at Columbia University and Professor emerita of Western Medieval History at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. She was the first woman to be appointed University Professor at Columbia. She is a former Dean of Columbia's School of General Studies. She served as President of the American Historical Association for 1996.

Bynum received a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1962 and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1969. Her honors include the Jefferson Lecture, a MacArthur Fellowship, and twelve honorary degrees including degrees from Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, and the University of Michigan. Bynum's work has focused on the way medieval people understood the nature of the human body and its physicality in the context of larger theological questions and spiritual pursuits. Among her books are:

Christian Materiality An Essay on Religion in Late Medieval Europe;

Wonderful Blood: Theology and Practice in Late Medieval Northern Germany and Beyond, winner of the 2011 Haskins Medal;