Meg Bernstein

Biography

Meg Bernstein, PhD, is an art historian specialising in medieval European art and architecture, with a particular focus on the parish church as a space shaped by community, devotion, and design. She earned her PhD in Art History from UCLA in 2019, following earlier degrees from Smith College, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Yale University. Her academic career has included fellowships at the Courtauld Institute of Art, the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and the University of York where she received a Fulbright US Scholar award in History of Art. A lecturer in medieval art, Meg has taught courses on medieval visual culture, materiality, and architecture at a variety of institutions across the US and UK.

Her research explores how buildings and artworks were experienced in their original contexts, engaging with sculpture, ritual, materiality, and the social life of parish churches between 1150 and 1300. Meg has co-organized major conferences and edited an open-access volume on the art history of the parish church, while also publishing widely on sculpture, wall painting, and digital humanities.

Alongside her academic work, Meg is an experienced lecturer who brings medieval art and architecture vividly to life for wider audiences. Her approach emphasizes not only the stylistic and historical development of monuments, but also the lived experiences of the communities who built, used, and cherished them.