Employment

2021-Present Spelman College, Assistant Professor of International Studies

2017-2021 Southern Oregon University, Assistant Professor of Anthropology

2016-2017 Drexel University, Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology

2016-Present University of Pennsylvania

Visiting Scholar, Anthropology

2014-2016 University of Pennsylvania

Postdoctoral Fellow, Anthropology and Africana Studies

Education

2014 PhD, University of California-Los Angeles, Anthropology

Dissertation: “Inkululeko: Youth, NGOs, and Discourses of Democracy in Post-Apartheid South Africa”

2010 MA, University of California-Los Angeles, Anthropology

Thesis: “Creating New Leaders: Youth Involvement in Community Activism in South Africa”

2005 BA, Barnard College, Anthropology

Graduated Magna cum Laude

Honors and Awards

2019-2020 SOU Professional Development Grant for “Suburbia, Consumption, and the Post-Racial”

2019 Carpenter I Grant for Summer Fieldwork in South Africa

2018 Carpenter II Grant for African Studies Association Annual Meeting

2016 African Studies Association Dakar Travel Award

2015 Franklin Research Grant, American Philosophical Society

2014 UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship (Declined)

2013 UCLA Anthropology Conference Travel Grant

2012 UCLA International Institute Dissertation Fieldwork Fellowship

2012 UCLA Anthropology Research Travel Grant

2010/11 UCLA Graduate Research Mentorship Program

2009/10 UCLA Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Program

2009 UCLA Anthropology Research Travel Grant

2009 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Honorable Mention

2008-2012 UCLA Graduate Fellowship

Publications

Monographs

2020 Reed, Amber. Nostalgia of the Oppressed: Youth, Democracy, and Culture in Post-

Apartheid South Africa. Notre Dame Press.

Refereed Articles

2019 “Racialized Space: Children Map the Post-Apartheid Landscape.” Visual Anthropology Review. 35(2).

2016 Reed, Amber. “Nostalgia in the Post-Apartheid State.” Anthropology Southern Africa. 39(2).

2016 Reed, Amber. “Democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Anthropology. Ed. John Jackson. New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.

2011 Reed, Amber. “Creating New Leaders: Youth Activism in South Africa.” Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies. vol. 36, no. 2.

2010 Reed, Amber & Hill, Amy. “ ‘Don’t Keep it to Yourself!” Digital Storytelling with South African Youth. Seminar.net. vol. 6, no. 2.

2009 Reed, Amber. “ ‘Don’t Keep it to Yourself:’ Young People in Mhlontlo (Eastern Cape) Tell Their Stories through the Digital Stories Project.” Sonke Gender Justice Network website: www.genderjustice.org.za.

Invited Book Reviews

2019 Contradictions of Democracy: Vigilantism and Rights in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Nicholas Rush

Smith. American Ethnologist.

2017 Democracy’s Infrastructure: Techno-Politics and Protest after Apartheid. Anita Von Schnitzler.

American Ethnologist.

Photographs/Installations

2017 Reed, Amber. “ Photos from the Field.” Neos 9(1).

2016 “Mapping Post-Apartheid: Rural South African Children and the Politics of Space.” Installation.

Screening Scholarship Media Festival, University of Pennsylvania, April.

Invited Presentations

2021 "Nostalgia, Human Rights, and Democracy in South Africa." International Studies, Spelman College.

2017 “Nostalgia, Democracy, and Race in South Africa.” Anthropology Department, Southern

Oregon University.

2016 “Identity Politics and NGOs: A Case Study in South Africa.” Health and Societies: Global Perspectives course, University of Pennsylvania, March.

2016 “Nostalgia and Pedagogy in Post-Apartheid South Africa.” Indaba Series, Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies. February.

2015 “Girls’ Rights and Cultural Relativism in South Africa.” Seneca International, U.N. International Day of the Girl. October.

2015 “Nostalgia and Neoliberalism in the Post-Apartheid State.” African Studies Workshop, Harvard University. October.

2015 “Nostalgia in Post-Apartheid South Africa.” Anthropology Department Colloquium, University of Pennsylvania, February.

2015 “Human Rights and Cultural Relativism in South Africa.” Penn International Affairs Association’s Model United Nations Conference. Philadelphia, January.

2015 “Teaching ‘Democracy’ through Digital Storytelling.” Programs in Education, Culture and Society, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, January.

2014 “Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Mental Health and Behavior.” Psychology Course, Hunter College, CUNY, November.

2014 “Nostalgia and Neoliberalism in Post-Apartheid South Africa.” The Africa Center, University of Pennsylvania, November.

2013 “Teaching Democracy: Socialization of Political Ideology in Rural South Africa.” Linguistic Anthropology Course, UCLA, May.

Conference Presentations

2019 “Life Orientation as Democratic Project.” Southern Oregon Arts and Research, SOU, May.

2019 “Thinking Outside the Box? NGO Practices to Shape Youth Identity in the Rural Eastern Cape.

University of Texas at Austin Africa Conference, March.

2018 “Ambivalent Interventions: The Social Consequences of Medical Intervention in ‘The Field.’” African

Studies Association Annual Meetings, November.

2017 "Gender Transformation as Liberal Democratic Project: The Case of South Africa." African Studies Association Annual Meetings, November.

2017 “The Tyranny of Democracy: Producing Un-freedom in Post-Apartheid South Africa.” Diverse Unfreedoms and Their Ghosts, Rutgers University, March.

2016 “Internal Colonization and the Creation of Nostalgia in South Africa’s Former Transkei.” American Anthropological Association Annual Conference, November.

2016 “Transforming Citizenship: Democracy, Education and Nostalgia in the Post-Apartheid State.” Innovation, Transformation and Sustainable Futures in Africa, American Anthropology Association/African Studies Association Conference, Dakar, Senegal, June.

2016 “Mapping Post-Apartheid: Rural South African Children and the Politics of Space.” Installation. Screening Scholarship Media Festival, University of Pennsylvania, April.

2015 “Nostalgia for Apartheid and Democratic Discontent.” American Anthropological Association Annual Conference, Denver, CO, November.

2013 “Democracy Across Generations: Negotiations of and Resistance to New Values among Rural South African Youth and their Elders.” American Anthropological Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, November.

2011 “Conceptions of Childhood in Post-Apartheid South Africa.” Multiple Childhoods/Multidisciplinary Perspectives Conference, Rutgers University, May.

2010 “ ‘Don’t Keep It To Yourself!’: Digital Storytelling Among South African Youth.” American Anthropological Association Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA, November.

2010 “Gender Roles Among Youth Activists in South Africa.” Men, Masculinities and Family Planning in Africa, UCLA, October.

2010 “Creating New Leaders: Youth Involvement in Community Activism in South Africa.” African Activist Association Annual Conference, UCLA, May.

Media Appearances

2016 “Democracy in Africa.” The Divided Line. WQHS Radio, University of Pennsylvania, March.

Teaching Experience

2021-Present Spelman College, International Studies

2017-Present Southern Oregon University, Anthropology Department

Cultural Anthropology: Perspectives on Humanity

Cultures in Comparison: Africa

Re-Imagining Africa

NGOs and Humanitarianism

Democracy in Africa

Ethnographic Methods

Ethnographic Film

Video Ethnography

2016-2017 Drexel University, Anthropology Department

Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

Ethnographic Methods

NGOs and Humanitarianism

2014-2016 University of Pennsylvania, Anthropology and Africana Studies

Youth and Democracy in Africa, an upper-level undergraduate course

NGOs and Humanitarianism, a mixed undergraduate/graduate course

The Anthropology of Nostalgia and Memory, a graduate course

2014 John Jay College, CUNY, Anthropology Department

Introduction to Anthropology, an undergraduate course

2013-2014 Baruch College, CUNY, Anthropology & Sociology Department

Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, an undergraduate course

Anthropological Analysis, an undergraduate capstone course for the minor

2009-2013 University of California, Los Angeles, Anthropology Department

Culture and Society, Study of Culture, Culture and Communication, Language in Culture

Methods in Cultural Anthropology

2005-2008 The American Museum of Natural History, High School After School Program, Education Department

Taught: Introduction to Anthropology, Introduction to Ethnographic Film

Professional Positions

2014-Present The American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY

Course Scientist, Seminars on Science Online Courses

2014 The American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY

Human Bulletins Content Advisor, Science Bulletins

2005-2008 The American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY

High School After-School Program Coordinator, Education Department

Professional Workshops

2015 Johannesburg Workshop in Theory and Criticism

University of the Witswatersrand, South Africa, June/July

2013 Making Better Writers of Your Students

Schwartz Institute, Baruch College, CUNY, October

2013 Atlas.ti Training Workshop for Qualitative Research Analysis

AIDS Institute, UCLA, May

2012 MenEngage Africa Workshop with Sonke Gender Justice

Gender-based violence prevention and gender equality workshop, Rwanda, March

Professional Affiliations

2016-Present African Studies Association

2014-Present Africana Department’s Postdoctoral Scholars Workshop, University of Pennsylvania

2014-Present CAMRA, University of Pennsylvania

2013-2014 City University of New York (CUNY) Childhood Scholars Group

2008-Present Interest Group on NGOs and Nonprofits, AAA

2008-Present Anthropology of Children and Childhood Interest Group, AAA

2008-2014 African Activists Association

2007-Present American Anthropological Association

Professional Service

2018-2019 Member, Financial Aid Committee, Southern Oregon University

2018-2019 Member, Professional Learning Community/Upper Division Education, Southern Oregon

University

2017-Present Member, International Studies Committee, Southern Oregon University

2015 Volunteer Panel Co-Organizer and Discussant, “Strange Presents/Familiar Pasts: The Anthropology of Nostalgia.” American Anthropological Association Annual Conference, November

2013-Present Peer Reviewer, Cultural Anthropology, American Anthropologist, Social Problems, African Studies, Global Public Health

2013 Volunteer Panel Co-Organizer, “Nascent Democracies: Discontent, Negotiation, Resistance.” American Anthropological Association Annual Conference, November

Languages

English: Native Language

Xhosa: Intermediate Listener, Intermediate Speaker, Intermediate Reading and Writing

Afrikaans: Novice Listener, Novice Speaker, Novice Reading and Writing

Spanish: Intermediate Listener, Intermediate Speaker, Intermediate Reading and Writing