Rhymes Reasons

Hello Rhymes Reasons Fam! We have a great program in store for you. Wednesday, January 25th @ 7pm CST, our guest will be  Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Assistant Professor at The New School in New York.

As Assistant Professor of History at The New School, she studies the politics and culture of the modern United States, including issues of gender, race, class, and identity. Her first book, Classroom Wars: Language, Sex, and the Making of Modern Political Culture (Oxford, 2015), explores the roots of the culture wars in American public schools, specifically amid heated battles over sexuality and bilingual education. Her latest research traces the rise of “wellness culture” since the 1950s, asking how and why Americans have increasingly linked food and fitness regimes to the pursuit of self-fulfillment.

These scholarly pursuits are closely linked to her wellness activism as co-founder of HealthClass2.0, an experiential health education program that bridges a wellness gap in public school education and connects university mentors with K-12 students. She is also a Premiere Leader of intenSati, an innovative mind-body practice, which she teaches at Equinox Fitness and privately.

Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Slate, and The Huffington Post, and she writes a biweekly “fitness history” column for Well+Good and am a co-host of the Past Present Podcast. She's been featured as an expert historian on venues such as Brian Lehrer TV, The History Channel, and in The Atlantic. Her work in wellness has been covered by many publications including The Guardian, Well+Good, Univision, and Fox 5 NY. She received a BA from Columbia College and a MA and Ph.D. from Stanford University, all in History. She lives and works in New York City.

So be sure to tune-in Rhymes Reasons Fam.