Education

•      Ph.D., History (History), University of California, Riverside, 2018. Dissertation: "Resiliency of Native American Women Basket Weavers from California, the Great Basin, and the Southwest." Advisor: Clifford Trafzer

•      M.A., Public History, University of California, Riverside, 2015

•      B.A., History, California State University, San Bernardino, 2013

Academic Appointments

•      Visiting Professor, Department of Art History, Pomona College, 2023–2025

•      Native Scholar in Residence, Pitzer College, 2024

•      Teaching Assistant, Department of History, University of California, Riverside, 2014–2017

Publications

Book Manuscript

•      Weaving Resistance. In preparation for university press submission.

Edited Volume

•      Editor and contributor, Surviving the Long Wars: Creative Rebellion at the Ends of Empire. Chicago, IL, 2024.

Book Chapters (forthcoming)

  • With Paul DeBell and Matthew Schaeffer. "Constellations of Place, Time, and Belonging: Object-Based Learning in Context to Foster Critical Dialogue and Community." In Learning through Material Culture: Reimagining Object-Based Learning in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Betty Dorr and Cory Philan. Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press.

Journal Contributions

•      Co-author, "Indigenous Cultural Preservation in Public and Digital Spaces," roundtable, The Public Historian (accepted; forthcoming 2027).

Exhibition Catalog Essays

•      Continuity: Cahuilla Basket Weavers and Their Legacies. Claremont, CA: Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, 2024.

•      "Finding Balance," in Apsáalooke Women and Warriors. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020.

 Articles and Essays

•      "Sisters United," Native American Art Magazine, 2022.

•      "The Comeback," Native American Art Magazine, 2022.

•      "Tributes to the Past," Native American Art Magazine, 2021.

Public Scholarship

•      Meranda Writes History (merandawriteshistory.com), 2019–present

•      Curatorial Killjoy (@curatorial_killjoy), Instagram and media project, 2019–present

Curatorial Work

•      Guest Curator, Constellations of Place, Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO, 2026

•      Co-Curator (with Jeremy Dennis), Eternal Testament: Resistance and Refusal in Contemporary Native Art, The Church, Sag Harbor, NY, 2025. Named by Hyperallergic among the best art shows around the world in 2025

•      Guest Curator, Continuity: Cahuilla Basket Weavers and Their Legacies, Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, Claremont, CA, 2024

•      Guest Curator, Still We Smile: Humor as Correction and Joy, Idyllwild Arts, Idyllwild, CA, June–July 2023

•      Co-Director, Surviving the Long Wars: Veteran Art Summit and Exhibition, Chicago, IL, 2023–2025

•      Co-Curator, Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories, Native North American Hall renovation, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, 2018–2022

Repatriation, Consulting, and Community-Engaged Work

•      NAGPRA Assessment and Consultation, Oak Native American Ethnographic Collection, Institute for Human Science & Culture, University of Akron, 2024

•      Native American Art and Collection Consultant, Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, 2020–2025

•      Inaugural Member, City of Ontario Public Arts Committee, Ontario, CA,

Teaching

Pomona College, Department of Art History

•      ARHI 138: Reclaiming Native American Art

•      ARHI 139: Native American Women Artists

University of California, Riverside, Department of History (Teaching Assistant)

•      Twentieth-Century World History, Summer 2014, 2016, 2017

•      World History: Prehistory to 1600, 2015

Invited Talks and Conference Presentations

•      Panelist, "Indigenous Perspectives: Museums, Stewardship, and Native American Art," St. Louis, MO, 2025

•      Panelist, Native American Art Studies Association Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2023

•      Keynote Panelist, "What Will It Take to Decolonize Museums?" Canadian Museums Association, 2023

•      Speaker, "Bringing Accountability to Museums," TEDxNorthwestern, 2021

•      Panelist, National Council on Public History Annual Meeting, 2021

•      Invited Speaker, "Acknowledging Land with Dr. Meranda Roberts," Harvard Indigenous Design Collective, 2020

•      Panelist, Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums Conference, 2019

•      Panelist, Historians of the Twentieth Century Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 2017

Fellowships, Grants, and Honors

•      DEMIL Art Fund Award, Veteran Art Movement, Chicago, IL, 2024

•      Featured in Power in Preservation, Dumbarton House, Washington, D.C., 2021

•      Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Fellowship, University of California, Riverside, 2015–2018

•      Native American Fellowship, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, 2016

•      Dean's Distinguished Fellowship, University of California, Riverside, 2013–2016

Service to the Profession

•      Scholarly Advisory Committee, Smithsonian American Women's History Museum, 2024–present

•      Committee Member, Autry Public History Prize, Western History Association, 2025–present

•      Fellowship Juror, Forge Project, Hudson, NY, 2022

•      Editorial Committee, Reader on Native North American Art, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, 2022

Museum Training

•      Curatorial Intern, Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Riverside, CA, 2015

•      Curatorial Intern, Mission Inn Museum, Riverside, CA, 2014

•      Intern, Ontario Museum of History and Art, Ontario, CA, 2013