Assistant professor Christopher M. Blunda specializes in the intellectual and cultural history of the late Roman Empire (A.D. 200-600). Before coming to VMI in 2020, he received a B.A. in Classics from Cornell University, an M.T.S. in The History of Christianity from Harvard Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Berkeley.
The collection he co-edited with Susanna Elm, The Late (Wild) Augustine, focuses on the last decade of Augustine鈥檚 life (420-430), underscoring the themes and concerns that led Augustine to articulate several of his central theological notions in the most radical fashion. Blunda鈥檚 book project, tentatively titled Dislodging Augustine: Text, Authority, and the Contours of the Christian Past in Gennadius of Marseilles, investigates the contested origins of the western theological tradition during the Semipelagian Controversy.
At VMI, he is the Gates Cambridge Scholarship coordinator, the assistant coach of the rock-climbing team, and has advised several honors theses. He is the recipient of the Wilbur S. Hinman, Jr. 鈥�26 Research Award (2025), which recognizes superior achievement of a cadet in research at VMI, and the Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award (2024).