Events
Natalia Mehlman Petrzela speaks often about her research on American culture and politics on college campuses, at cultural institutions, and for private and philanthropic groups all over the country. As well, she leads intenSati workshops and events in New York City and elsewhere.
To book Natalia for a speaking engagement, please contact info@outspokenagency.com.
Upcoming Events
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The Center for the American Experience Launches!
New York City: October 1, 6:00 PM
Celebrate the launch of the Center for the American Experience! Join biographer Walter Isaacson in conversation with Natalia on the theme of “American Stories,” the narratives about individuals, ideals, and experiences through which a nation comes to understand itself. The Mannes Orchestra, led by maestro David Hayes, will perform Charles Ives’s Variations on “America.”
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How America Became Obsessed with Fitness -But Don't Exercise
New York City: September 15, 6:30 PM
Join Natalia on the Lower East Side for a discussion of our country’s strange, inconsistent obsession with exercise in a special session of “PhDs and Pints” at Sugar Mouse NYC. Free!
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Classroom Wars in America: 92Y Roundtable course
ONLINE: May 2026
Join a community of online learners for an interactive, 3-part class offered by the 92nd St. Y’s Roundtable series.
For as long as educational institutions have existed, Americans have fought bitterly about how they should teach, who they should serve, and to what end. Join Natalia to understand the stakes of these conflicts and how they have evolved over time -- and to contemplate, together, whether today's battles over education really are as unprecedented as they may seem.
Selected Past Talks + Events
Fitness History as Feminist Practice: A Women's History Month Lecture: March 2026
Fit Nation: American Fitness Culture, Past and Present Heimat Club: February 11, 2026
Or Initiative Launch Chapman University: February 9-10, 2026
It Starts with Words: Teaching the Escalation of Hate: A K-12 Teaching Workshop Montclair, NJ: October 10, 2025
A Fit Nation? How America Became Obsessed with Exercise—But Physically Unfit Malibu, CA: October 7, 2025
JFK, SPORTING COMPETITION, AND INTERNATIONAL GOODWILL, THEN AND NOW Boston, MA: July 2025
Combating Antisemitism on Campus Through K-12 Jewish Identity Education New York, NY: March 2025
"The Obstacle and Opportunity of Writing a ‘Useable Past’: On Chronicling the Classroom Culture Wars as They Happen" West Lafayette, IN: January 2025
Keynote Lecture @ Fitness Technology Summit Las Vegas, NV: October 2024
Plenary Panel @ Society for U.S. Intellectual History Annual Meeting Boston, MA: November 2024
Workshop @ American Historical Association Annual Meeting New York, NY: January 2025
Fit Nation: Jews, Exercise, and the Making of Modern American Fitness Culture Virtual Event: June 2024
Keynote Lecture @ YMCA of Greater New York New York City, NY: May 2024
Keynote Lecture @ Association Francaise des Etudes Americaines Aix-en-Provence, France: May 2024
Richardson Lecture @ Georgetown University Washington, DC: March 14 @ 4:30 pm
Shattering the Silence: Challenging Denial, Amplifying Women’s Voices @ JCC OF MID-WESTCHESTSTER Scarsdale, NY: March 18 @ JCC of Mid-Westchester
Fit Nation Paperback Launch Los Angeles: April 5 @ Equinox West Hollywood
FIT NATION EN FRANCE! 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.