Renata Keller

Renata Keller is Associate Professor of History and Undergraduate Advisor at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). She previously taught international relations at Boston University for five years before joining UNR in 2017.

Education:

• B.A. in History and Spanish, Arizona State University
• Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin

Research & Teaching Interests:

Dr. Keller specializes in Latin American and Cold War history, with particular attention to Cuba, Mexico, inter-American relations, and transnational revolutionary networks. She explores how events in one part of the hemisphere reverberate across borders, shaping politics, diplomacy, and everyday life.

Her teaching portfolio includes courses on modern Latin America, Cuban history, the global Cold War, drugs and security in the Americas, historical methods, historiography, and graduate research seminars on the twentieth century.

Scholarly Publications & Trends:

Across more than two dozen publications—monographs, peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and op-eds—Keller traces the interconnected fates of the Americas from the Cuban Revolution through the Cold War’s denouement. Recurring themes include information warfare, diplomatic mediation, revolutionary solidarity, and the domestic uses of foreign policy. Her work draws on multi-archival research in the United States, Mexico, Cuba, and beyond, and is characterized by transnational, multilingual, and multi-method approaches.

Awards & Honors:

• Alfred B. Thomas Book Prize, SECOLAS (2016)
• Thomas McGann Book Prize, Honorable Mention, RMCLAS (2016)
• Michael C. Meyer Prize, Special Commendation, RMCLAS (2018)
• Joseph T. Criscenti Article Prize, NECLAS (2016)
• Sturgis Leavitt Award for Best Article, Honorable Mention, SECOLAS (2020)
• Edward H. Moseley Paper Prize, SECOLAS (2009)

Grants & Fellowships:

• National Endowment for the Humanities
• Fulbright Foundation
• Social Science Research Council
• Philanthropic Educational Organization
• Kluge Center, U.S. Library of Congress
• American Philosophical Society

Editorial & Outreach:

Keller is co-editor of the UNC Press book series InterConnections: The Global Twentieth Century. She has co-produced an NEH-sponsored podcast documentary on the Cuban Missile Crisis and contributes regularly to public-facing outlets such as History Today, The Washington Post, and NACLA.