Profile
Natalia Mehlman Petrzela is Professor of History, NSSR/Lang, and historian of contemporary American politics and culture. She is the author of, most recently, 听(好色先生 of Chicago Press, 2023). She is a frequent media guest expert, public speaker, and contributor to outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The听New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and MSNBC Opinion, where she is a columnist. A former K-12 teacher, Petrzela is currently the lead scholar on the New York City Department of Education鈥檚 Jewish American Hidden Voices curriculum, launching in Fall 2025. She co-produced and hosted the acclaimed podcast 听and the 听podcast, and was host and Executive Producer of the BBC podcast, EXTREME. She is working on two new books. One,听on the United States' classroom culture wars, has earned her recognition as a Carnegie Corporation Fellow and a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar. The second is a history of Long Island鈥檚 East End, co-authored with historian Neil J. Young. She holds a BA from Columbia 好色先生 and a PhD from Stanford 好色先生.
Degrees Held
PhD, 2009, History, Stanford 好色先生
MA, 2004, History, Stanford 好色先生
BA, 2000, History, Columbia College听
Professional Affiliation
Society for U.S. Intellectual History
History of Education Society
Organization of American Historians
American Historical Association
Berkshire Conference of Women Historians
Academic Engagement Network
Recent Publications
Books
, Chicago 好色先生 Press, 2023
, Oxford 好色先生 Press, 2015 (paperback 2017)
Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters
鈥淏iden and the Educational Culture Wars,鈥 in ed., Julian R. Zelizer, The Biden Presidency: A First Historical Assessment, Princeton 好色先生 Press, forthcoming, 2025.
鈥淲orking Out a New Relationship to Objectivity, Experience, and Engaged Scholarship,鈥 special issue of Pacific Historical Review,听Summer 2024.
"Family Values Feminism," in Kruse, Kevin, and Zelizer, Julian, eds.,听Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Lies and Legends 好色先生 Our Past, Basic Books, 2023.
"From Performance to Participation: The Origins of the Fit Nation,"听罢谤补苍蝉补迟濒补苍迟颈肠补,听2020.
"The Siren Song of Yoga: Sex, Spirituality, and the Limits of American Countercultures,"听Pacific Historical Review,听2020.
鈥淎n Intellectual History of the Gym, (Thanks, Gender!),鈥 in Haberski, Raymond and Andrew Hartman, eds., American Labyrinth: Intellectual History for Difficult Times, Cornell 好色先生 Press, 2018.
鈥淗ealthClass2.0: Crossing Boundaries Through Campus-Based Civic Engagement,鈥 Anthropology Now, Vol. 7 No. 2
鈥淩evisiting the Rightward Turn: Max Rafferty, Education, and Modern American Politics,鈥 The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics, and Culture, Vol. 6, No.2.
With Sarah Manekin, 鈥淭he Accountability Partnership: Writing and Surviving in the Digital Age,鈥 in Dougherty, Jack, and Nawrotzki, Kristin, eds., e, 好色先生 of Michigan Digital Humanities Series
鈥淏efore the Federal Bilingual Education Act: Legislation and Lived Experience,鈥 Immigration and Education: A Special Issue of the Peabody Journal of Education, Vol.85, No.4., 406-424.
鈥溾橲ex Ed鈥 and the Reds?鈥 Reconsidering the Anaheim Battle over Sex Education, 1962-1969,鈥 History of Education Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 2, 203-232.
听
Selected Recent Public Writing
"T,"听Wall Street Journal,听July 2025.
","听MSNBC Opinion,听June 2025.
","听The New Republic,听April 2025.
","听New York Times,听December 2024. (with Rachel Schreiber)
","听The Nation,听December 2022.
","听厂濒补迟别,听September 2022.
","听Chronicle of Higher Education,听August 2022.
"," 颁狈狈,听May 2022.
"," Washington Post,听November 2021.
"," New York Times,听February 2021.
听
Research Interests
20th-Century U.S. history of politics, society, and culture, and "history communication" beyond the academy.
Awards And Honors
National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar, 2025-26
Carnegie Corporation Fellow, 2024-2025
Best Podcasts of 2021 Lists for "Welcome to Your Fantasy," including Vogue, New York Times, Financial Times, Esquire, GQ, The Guardian.
Robert L. Heilbroner Center for Capitalism Studies Research Grant (2016-17)
Provost鈥檚 Office Faculty Research Fund (2016-17)
Mellon Foundation Civic Humanities Pedagogy Grant (with Verso Books) (2016-17)
Roy A. Hunt Foundation Grant for HealthClass2.0 (2014-16)听听听听 听听听听听听听听听听
Frederick Lewis Allen Memorial Room Writer, New York Public Library (2014-15)听听听 听听听听听听听听听听
Provost鈥檚 Office Faculty Research Fund, The New School (2014-15)听听听听 听听听听听听听听听听
Multiple Civic Engagement and Social Justice Grants (2012-14)听听听听听听听听听听 听听听听听听听听听听
Rockefeller Foundation/New School for Public Engagement Collaborative Innovation Grant for HealthClass2.0 (2013-15)听听听听听听听
Mrs. Giles M. Whiting Foundation Dissertation Fellow (2008-09)听听听听听听听听听
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Summer Seminar Fellow, 鈥淪equels to the Sixties,鈥 Cambridge, MA (2008)
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Dissertation Fellow (relinquished) (2007-08)听听听听听听听听听听听
Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellow (2007-08)
Centennial Award for Excellence in Teaching, Stanford 好色先生 (2004)
听
Portfolio