phd, she/her
Overview
I’m a historian and writer with a deep commitment to producing public-facing scholarship. Since completing my PhD in history in 2016, I have worked outside the academy at a public history non-profit, as an independent journalist and essayist, facilitator, and consultant. My writing has appeared in Electric Literature, The Nation, Atlas Obscura, PRI’s The World, Jacobin, and The Abusable Past. My book, La Raza Cosmética: Beauty, Identity, and Settler Colonialism in Postrevolutionary Mexico (University of Arizona Press, 2020), was a finalist for the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association's Best First Book Award in 2021. In summer 2025, I’ll be launching Past Lives Press, a historical consultancy centered around the radical act, art, and power of zines.
Professional Work
About Natasha Varner
Currently, I am the Heritage Program Manager at 4Culture, where I work to get taxpayer-funded grants into the hands of heritage organizations across King County. At 4Culture, I use a racial equity lens to fund work that has been historically left out of mainstream historical accounts. Previously, I worked at Densho for 9 years as their Communications and Public Engagement Director, where I created an artist residency program and co-created storytelling platforms for Japanese Americans artists, creatives, activists, and scholars.
My work comes from, and is directly shaped by, the communities—both the people and the places—I am fortunate enough to call home. Much gratitude to the following communities, networks, and outlets for welcoming me in and allowing me to be a part of your growing influence in the world: Community Archives Collaborative, Common AREA Maintenance, National Council of Public History, Labor and Working-Class History Association, International Workers of the World, Freelance Journalists Union, and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association.
Approach
As a historian, public scholar, and writer, I’m committed to writing about challenging parts of our past—white supremacy, settler colonialism, genocide—and illustrating how those things give shape to the world we inhabit today, hopefully inspiring readers to think critically about their own complicity and work to mitigate harm, repair, and rematriate.
Awards & Opportunities
Communities & Networks
Most recently, I was awarded a US@250 Fellowship from New America for 2024/2025. As a member of New America's second cohort of fellows, I’ll be reporting on the afterlife of Amache, Colorado’s WWll-era Japanese American concentration camp and its transition to becoming America's newest National Historic Site.
This fellowship is an extension of my work as a community-engaged independent journalist and public historian. My research and interview techniques adhere to journalistic best practices and also draw from my educational background in archival research and ethnographic fieldwork. You can see more on my project page about this.
I have received past support from: Artist Trust GAP Funding Award (2024), Roundhouse Foundation/Pine Meadow Ranch Artist Residency (2024), 4Culture Heritage Professional Grant (2023), Zenith Cooperative Journalism Fellowship (2022), among others.
A historian and writer with a deep commitment to producing public-facing scholarship.
Ph.D. History, University of Arizona, 2016
Dissertation: La Raza Cosmética: Beauty, Race, and Indigeneity in Revolutionary Mexico
M.A. Latin American Studies, University of Arizona, 2009
Thesis: Beyond Pueblos Mágicos: Indigeneity in National Identity and Cultural Tourism Initiatives in Mexico
B.A. Anthropology, summa cum laude Northern Arizona University, 2003
Minors: Linguistics, American Indian studies