Nara Milanich

Nara B. Milanich is Professor of History at Barnard College, Columbia University, specializing in Latin America; the comparative histories of family, childhood, gender, reproduction, and social inequality. She is the author of Paternity: The Elusive Quest for the Father, published by Harvard University Press (2019). She was interviewed about the book for Science Friday by Ira Flatow.

Milanich joined the Barnard faculty in 2004. In addition to paternity and the family her scholarly interests include modern Latin America, Chile, law, and social inequality. Her awards include the Columbia University, Heyman Center Society of Fellows, 2015–16; ACLS Burkhardt Fellowship, 2014–15; and the Grace Abbott Book Award from the Society for the History of Children and Youth (2009) for Children of Fate.

Milanich has received the Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowship for Recently Tenured Scholars from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Fellowships for College Teachers and Independent Scholars from the National Endowment for the Humanities, which cited her Families, Class, and the State in Chile, 1800-1930

She has published in scholarly journals and popular publications including Scientific American; Salon; and Time Magazine

Milanich is the daughter of archeologist Jerald T. Milanich and anthropologist Maxine Margolis.

Paternity: The Elusive Quest for the Father

Milanich's book Paternity: The Elusive Quest for the Father received considerable media attention, called 'a solidly researched and enlightening new book' in The New Yorker review. The book was also reviewed in The Economist, and Salon interviewed Milanich in an article about the book. The book and Milanich were the subjects of a piece in The Atlantic. Paternity was also cited in the New and Noteworthy section of the New York Times Review of Books.