Robin S. Reich

Robin S. Reich is an Assistant Professor of History at Seattle University, affiliated with the Department of History and University Honors. Her research focuses on medieval Mediterranean science, medicine, and cross-cultural exchange, particularly in Southern Italy, Sicily, and North Africa during the 11th-12th centuries. She holds a PhD from Columbia University (2022), MA from Boston College (2015), and BA from Carleton College (2012).

Education:

• PhD (2022): History, Columbia University
• MA (2015): History, Boston College
• BA (2012): History (Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Archaeology), Carleton College

Research Interests: Her work explores material culture's role in transmitting scientific knowledge across religious and linguistic boundaries. Current projects include a monograph on medieval medicinal substances and the Medievalist Toolkit, analyzing modern uses of medieval imagery in politics and pop culture. She also studies female medical practitioners in the medieval Mediterranean and their parallels with the modern Wellness movement.

Teaching: Courses emphasize media literacy and critical analysis, including medieval women’s history, herbal medicine, and the history of science. Recent courses: Medieval Women’s Bodies, History of Herbal Medicine, and The Rise of Science.

Key Projects:

• Monograph: Materials of Medicine: Exchanging, Translating, and Using Transformative Substances in the Medieval Central Mediterranean
• Co-founder of the Medievalist Toolkit, promoting evidence-based discourse on medievalism