I speak often about my research on American culture and politics on college campuses, at cultural institutions, and for private and philanthropic groups all over the country. As well, I lead intenSati workshops and events in New York City and elsewhere. I hope to see you at one of these venues soon! If you would like to book me for a speaking engagement, please contact info@outspokenagency.com.
Montclair, NJ: October 10, 2025
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Featuring remarks by Dr. Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Professor of History, The New School. A scholar of US history and former K-12 teacher, Petrzela is currently the lead scholar on the New York City Department of Education’s Jewish American Hidden Voices curriculum, launching June 2025.Register here. |
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Malibu, CA: October 7, 2025
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How did Americans become obsessed with working out? Come hear renowned political and intellectual historian—and certified fitness trainer—Natalia Mehlman Petrzela answer this question through an exploration of the history of fitness in America. Petrzela traces how intentional exercise moved from the cultural margins to the very center of the American experience, even as it remains inaccessible for far too many people. An experienced teacher and engaging communicator, Petrzela offers a compelling case for how understanding the past can help us better pursue health in the present. This event is co-presented by Pepperdine Libraries, Seaver College’s Office of the Dean—via the Visiting Scholar Program, the Humanities and Teacher Education Division, the Communication Division, and the Natural Science Division’s Pre-Health Program. Refreshments are provided, and copies of Petrzela’s book, Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America’s Exercise Obsession, will be available for purchase after the talk. Register here. |
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Boston, MA: July 2025
Join the Kennedy Library and Arizona State University’s Great Game Lab to explore President Kennedy’s sporting legacy as Boston prepares to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup during the country’s 250th birthday. Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Professor at The New School and author of Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America’s Exercise Obsession, and members of Harvard Women’s Soccer join a wide-ranging discussion with Victoria Jackson and Andrés Martinez, Great Game Lab Co-Directors. Learn more about the lasting cultural and public health significance of Cold War-driven presidential physical fitness tests, the role of sport in geopolitical affairs, the rise of American intercollegiate athletics as a developer of Team USA and global Olympic talent, and the evolving relationship between JFK’s beloved American football and the world’s version of the game known to us as soccer.
New York, NY: March 2025
The panel will feature me, a history professor at The New School, author of Classroom Wars, and the senior academic advisor to the NYC DOE overseeing the K-12 Jewish studies curriculum; Karen Marder, a teacher and academic dean at Hillcrest High School in Queens; political scientist, Professor Ester Fuchs who co-authored Columbia’s report on antisemitism; and Jewish Community Relations Council CEO Mark Treyger, who will moderate the conversation.
West Lafayette, IN: January 2025
Join me for a lecture at Purdue University’s Center for American Political History and Technology on my latest research on the educational culture wars.
Las Vegas, NV: October 2024
Join me for a keynote lecture, “Unveiling Insights into Health, Culture, and the Empowering Force of Exercise,” at the Fitness Technology Summit. Register here.
Boston, MA: November 2024
Join me for a plenary panel, “Peer Reviewing Podcasts, What to Consider,” at the Society for U.S. Intellectual History Annual Meeting. Register here.
New York, NY: January 2025
Join me for the Sinclair Panel and Workshop on Historical Podcasting at the American Historical Association Annual Meeting. Register here.
Virtual Event: June 2024
Talk and conversation for New Lehr Haus. Register here.
New York City, NY: May 2024
Keynote address on “Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America’s Exercise Obsession,” for wellness and fitness professionals of YMCA of Greater New York.
Aix-en-Provence, France: May 2024
Keynote address on “Fit Nation and Embodied Research,” Association Francaise des Etudes Americaines annual meeting.
Washington, DC: March 14 @ 4:30 pm
Join me for a public lecture, “Fit Nation? The Pressures and Privileges of American Exercise Culture”, and reception following. Register here.
Scarsdale, NY: March 18 @ JCC of Mid-Westchester
Join me and Mimi Rocah for a discussion of the the global reaction to the atrocities of 10/7 and how we, as feminists, can effectively advocate for victims and survivors. Register here.
Los Angeles: April 5 @ Equinox West Hollywood
Conversation, intenSati + yoga with Jill Miller, bites and book signing! 2:30 pm, watch this space for more information.
France: May 21-25 (multiple talks)
Join me on 5/21 in Paris at EHESS, on 5/22 in Aix-en-Provence keynoting at AFEA, and on 5/23 in Grenoble at Université Grenoble.
New York City. November 2023: Moderator, “From Archives to Earbuds” podcasting conference.
East Hampton, NY. April 2023: Keynote Address, Mentoring Day for I-Tri Girls.
Stanford, CA. April 2023: “Writing Fit Nation, Writing History,” co-sponsored by the History Department and Program in Ethics in Society.
New York City. January 2023: Fit Nation Book Launch at The Strand Bookstore, in conversation with New York Times editor Lindsay Crouse.
Brookline, MA. January 23: Book signing for Fit Nation, in conversation with Pulitzer Prize finalist Megan Kate Nelson.
Philadelphia. January 23: Free Speech and the Schools panel. In conversation with Justin Driver (Yale Law) for PEN America @ The American Historical Association.
Tulsa, OK. May 22: Keynote Speaker, Reconciliation in America National Symposium @ John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation.
Villanova, PA. February 22: “Mastering the Art of Public Speaking” @ LePage Center for History in the Public Interest
Boston, MA. October 2021: “FIT NATION: How America Embraced Exercise As the Government Abandoned It” @ Boston University Political History Symposium
VIRTUAL. October 2021: “Podcasting For Ph.Ds” @ CUNY Graduate Center
VIRTUAL. January 2021: “”Get in Shape, Ladies: Home Exercise for Women, from Jane Fonda to Peloton” @ Hadassah
Whitewater, WI. October 2019: “Defining ‘Diversity’ for 21st-Century Education,” @ University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Storrs, CT. September 2019: “But Who Will Lead?” Myles Martel Lecture in Public Opinion and Leadership @ University of Connecticut.
Los Angeles, CA. September 2019: “Move Your Body, Change Your Life,” LA84 Foundation Summit.
Miami, FL. April 2019: “What is Public History?” Public Humanities Symposium, Wolfsonian Public Humanities Lab @ Florida International University.
Cambridge, MA. February 2019: Working Out the Relationship Between Fitness and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School.
NYC. February 2019: intenSati @ Reebok FitHub Union Square.
Southampton, NY. January 2019: Change Your Mind, Change your Life for i-Tri Girls @ The Spur.
NYC. January 2019: Clarifying Teaching Roles + Responsibilities @ YogaWorks
NYC. October 24, 2018: YEAH SHE DID: Witches in U.S. History, CAVEAT NYC.
Cape May, NJ. October 7, 2018: Lessons of History Distinguished Lecture, Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts and Humanities.
Paris, France. May 20, 2018: WOMEN IN MOVEMENT, workout + workshop co-led with Jess King, Chez Simone.
New York, April 2018: Co-founder LINKED NOT RANKED with Terez, at Rise By We
Paris, France. March 22, 2018: “When Fitness Became Life” in “New Perspectives on the Long 1980s in the United States,” Histoire et dynamique des espaces anglophones,” Sorbonne Université.
New York, November 27, 2017: Comment, Book Launch, From Fascism to Populism by Federico Finchelstein, The New School.
Instructor Workout/Workshop: What DO we do and how has it changed over time?
Physique57 Headquarters
New York, NY
September 14, 2017
Fall Reset Workout/shop: What Does Fitness Mean to You?
Doing/Living Marketplace
New York, NY
September 14, 2017
“Migration and its Limits” (1:35)
New School University-wide Convocation
New York, NY
August 20, 2017
Live Past Present Podcast Show!
John Jermain Memorial Library
Sag Harbor, NY
July 18, 2017
Panelist, “Strong Women Uplift Each Other: Feminism, Policy, and Activism,” with Tony nominee Celia Keenan-Bolger and Katie McDonough, Fusion. Uplift Studios, New York, May 31, 2017.
Keynote Address, “Fake News and Real Life: How Studying the Past Helps us Understand the Present and Shape the Future,” History Honors Society Induction Ceremony, Ramapo College, Mahwah, NJ, April 29, 2017.
Mentoring Talk, i-Tri: Transformation through Triathlon, East Hampton, NY, April 22, 2017.
“Linked not Ranked” host with Terez and Melanie Griffith of SoulCycle, New York, April 18, 2017.
Mentoring Talk, Peer Health Exchange Career Night, New York, April 5, 2017.
“Fractious Feminisms: Gender Politics in Post-Election America,” The New School, New York, March 10, 2017.
“How to Activate Your Inner Activist,” panel discussion facilitated by Katie Horwitch, founder of Women Against Negative Talk, Hub 17. New York, February 26, 2017.
EXERCISE YOUR POWER: A work(out) shop to engage EMOTIONS/INTELLECT/ACTIVISM. The New School, New York, January 2017.
“The Business of Wellness,” interview with Ciara Pressler, PREGAME HQ, Portland, OR, January 18, 2016.
“When Wellness Was Weird,” Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, January 20, 2016.
“Classroom Wars: Bilingual Education, Sex Education, and the Making of Modern Political Culture.” Wellesley College, November 17, 2016.
“When Wellness Was Weird” Temple University, November 7, 2016.
“A Golden State of Perfect Health: Wellness Culture in the Postwar United States,” Society for U.S. Intellectual History Annual Meeting, Stanford, CA, October 15, 2016.
“Elevate Your Life IQ at Contently with Ladies@, New York, September 28, 2016
“Dangerous Ideas” Symposium: “U.S. Intellectual History and the Debate Over Ideas in America” with Ray Haberski, Andrew Hartman, Ruben Flores, and Lisa Szefel, Indianapolis, IN, July 21, 2016.
Panelist, “Feminism, Capitalism, and the Fitness Industry,” with Patricia Moreno and Ellen Gustafson, W+ Summit Series, Eden, UT, June 25, 2016.
“Yoga, Fitness, and American Physical Culture: A Historian’s Perspective,” in conversation with Leslie Kaminoff, The Breathing Project, New York City, June 23, 2016.
Panelist, “Hashtag Wellness: Making Sense of Today’s Wellness Culture,” NBC Universal employee event, May 23, 2016.
“The Stories We Embody,” at Physique 57 (instructor development workshop), New York City, May 10, 2016.
“Education for Liberation or Regulation?: Sex and Schools in the Modern United States”. College of Staten Island, New York City, April 21, 2016.
“The Culture Wars and Education: Finding Common Ground” at Progressive/Conservative, The Common Ground Initiative at the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, April 16, 2016.
Co-creator (with Terez) and speaker, “Link Together, Lead Together” initiative, Los Angeles, April 13, 2016.
“The Moral Dimension of Teaching About the Past,” Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting, Providence, April 7, 2016.
“The F-Word: Fitness meets Feminism” at a special intenSati class with me at STORY, New York City, March 20, 2016
“Education and the Politics of Inequality,” with Jonathan Kozol, moderated by Dr. David Garcia, Tucson Festival of Books, March 12, 2016.
“Classroom Wars: Bilingual Education, Sex Education, and the Making of Modern Political Culture“. Teachers College, Columbia University, March 8, 2016.
Roundtable, “Are the Culture Wars History? New Comments on an Old Concept,” with Andrew Hartman, Adam Laats, Stephen Prothero, and Leo Ribuffo, at American Historical Association Annual Meeting, January 7, 2016.
“Classroom Wars: Bilingual Education, Sex Education, and the Making of Modern Political Culture,” Stanford University Department of History, November 14, 2015.
Panelist, “The Moral State: Character Education in Cold War America,” with Ronit Stahl, Leslie Ribovich, and Jon Zimmerman AND “New Books on the Culture Wars in Education,” with Professors Jonathan Zimmerman (NYU), Andrew Hartman (Illinois State University), and Adam Laats (SUNY-Binghamton), History of Education Society Annual Meeting, November 8-9, 2015.
“Wellness, Culture, and U.S. Education, Past and Present,” Social Justice Lecture Series, Tufts University Medical School, Program in Public Health, October 27, 2015.
Panelist, “Making America FIT: The History of U.S. Wellness Publics and Their Problems,” with Drs. Lindsay Bell (SUNY Oswego), Carol Horton (independent scholar), and Micki McGee (Fordham). Society for U.S. Intellectual History Annual Meeting, October 16, 2015
Panelist, “The New Speed of Transformation,” with Aaron Frank (Singularity University) and Dr. Christine Whelan, (University of Wisconsin), Life Reimagined Gateway Thought Leader Summit, Grand Junction, Colorado, July 12-15, 2015
Panelist, “Education and American Pluralism,” with Drs. Sebastian Cherng (NYU) and Rhashida Hillard (DOE), Judith Kafka (CUNY), Multicultural Institute of American Studies, July 2, 2015
In conversation with Dana Goldstein, New York Times bestselling author of The Teacher Wars: A History of America’s Most Embattled Profession (Doubleday, 2014), at “Happier Hour” Literary Salon, hosted by Aidan Donnelley Rowley, New York City, June 23, 2015
Interview by Peabody Award-winning journalist Trey Kay about the culture wars at a listening session and Q&A of the new podcast “Us and Them,” at BARBES, Brooklyn, June 16, 2015
“Girls, Gender, and Education, Past and Present,” with Prof. Wendy Suzuki, (Neuroscience, NYU) and Patricia Moreno, at Girls, Inc. Fundraiser, New York City, June 11, 2015
“Sex, Spanish, and School in the 60s and 70s,”The New School Minute for Alumni Day 2015, New York City, May 9, 2015
“Sex Ed Under Siege: Lessons from the Past for Today and Tomorrow,” hosted by Kathleen Kelly Janus, San Francisco, April 30, 2015
“Classroom Wars Book Talk with the Author,” at BookHampton, 41 Main Street, East Hampton, NY, April 26, 2015
Classroom WarsBook Launch! Discussion with me, Professor Jonathan Zimmerman (New York University), Professor Claire Bond Potter (The New School), and Professor Jeremy Varon (The New School), The New School, April 20, 2015
“Classroom Wars: Language, Sex, and the Making of Modern Political Culture.” Yale University, April 8, 2015
“Yoga, Aerobics, and the Making of Contemporary Femininity,” Herstory for Women’s History Month at Ramapo College of New Jersey, March 11, 2015
“Classroom Wars: Language, Sex, and the Making of Modern Political Culture,” Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, December 2014
Yoga, Fitness, and the Rise of American Wellness Culture,” School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, December 2014
Fat Studies: Bodies, Culture, Health,” New School for Public Engagement/Southern Food and Beverage Museum, June 2014, New York, NY
Keynote speaker, Columbia College Women Alumni Mentoring Lunch, April 2014
“Sex Education in Historical Perspective,” Sex Ed COLLAB, Parsons The New School for Design, April 2014
“The Practice of Leadership,” Yoga Journal Conference, April 2014
“Voices for Education,” 92Y Tribeca, April 2013
Discussant, Improbable Scholars public event with David Kirp and Clara Hemphill, Center for New York City Affairs, New York, NY April 2013
Speaker, University of Pennsylvania History Doctoral students on dissertation writing in the digital age, November 2012
Moderator, “Children and Food” panel, New School for Public Engagement programming, October 2012 New York, NY
Teaching American History lecture series at New York University, “Max Rafferty and the Origins of American Conservatism.” June 2012,
“Progressive Education in American History,” Learning Through Design, Parsons The New School for Design, Fall 2013
The World of Self-Betterment,” post-theater conversation with New York Times journalist Alina Tugend, Soho Rep., March 5, 2012
Dean’s Lecture, First-Year Orientation, Eugene Lang College, Fall 2011
“Sex Education and the Politics of Family,” University of Iowa, Fall 2010
Graduate Student Commencement Speaker, History Department, Stanford University, June 2009