Temple University

Natalie Cruz (she/her) is a first year PhD Art History student specializing in global modern and contemporary art. Her past studies have contended with generational and personal memory, historically absent or destroyed archives, language preservation, identity in diaspora, and assimilation of Armenians post-genocide, as a descendent of survivors herself. She’s building upon her previous studies for her PhD with a particular focus on the LGBTQ+ community in diaspora. 

She received her BA in Art History and minor in Anthropology from Pacific University Oregon and has presented her thesis, “Memory in Diaspora: The Armenian Genocide and Cultural Resilience in Art” at two conferences. While completing her MA in Art History from Temple University, she published 4 catalog entries in Intersections and co-curated the Berman Museum’s “Printmaking—Worldmaking” exhibition alongside Dr. Ashley West and other Tyler graduate art history students. She hopes to expand upon her MA thesis, “The Archival Construction and Queering of Diana Markosian’s Santa Barbara Project” in her dissertation. 

She is currently in her second year of teaching her individually-designed courses in Art History, Honors Art History, and Art Appreciation at Camden County College in New Jersey. She also works part-time at Tyler admissions as a graduate student worker and at Crust Vegan Bakery in Manayunk. She freelances as the managerial editor of the Queer Armenian Library, an online database dedicated to platforming the works of queer Armenian authors, filmmakers, artists, and more. 

Advisor: Alpesh Kantilal Patel, PhD