Professor Bodnar received a B.A. from John Carroll University in 1966 and a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut in United States History in 1975. He joined IU in 1981 and became Chancellor's Professor in 2000. Since 1981, he has served as co-director of the Center for the Study of History and Memory.

Professor Bodnar's research interests include American social and cultural history. He has been particularly interested in the behavior and thought of ordinary Americans. The Transplanted: A History of Immigrants in Urban America explored the communities created by European newcomers. Remaking America: Public Memory, Commemoration and Patriotism investigated patterns of cultural memory among different sectors of the American population. Blue-Collar Hollywood: Liberalism, Democracy and Working People in American Film examined the representation of political ideas in mass culture.

Professor Bodnar was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship in 1983 and was elected President of the Immigration History Society in 1991. In 1994, he was awarded the Florence Chair in American History at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. He has also held grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Spenser Foundation.