Dr. Amber Reed is a cultural anthropologist with a focus on South Africa. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and a B.A. from Barnard College. Her work has examined postapartheid democratic education and the politics of culture in rural South Africa; this is the focus of her 2020 book, "Nostalgia After Apartheid: Disillusionment, Youth, and Democracy in South Africa" (University of Notre Dame Press).

She is currently working on two new research projects: the first examines rural to suburban movement of Black South African families into formerly white-only suburbs around the metropolitan area of East London in the Eastern Cape Province. This project combines ethnographic work with residents and real estate agents with a close examination of African visual media to understand how space is experienced in a society that is simultaneously structured around race and ostensibly committed to equality and multiculturalism.

The second will examine how the African continent is taught in Atlanta-area middle schools. In 2020, she and a South African colleague also completed a research project examining how former apartheid activists and survivors in East London are navigating the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Dr. Reed teaches the program’s Introduction to International Studies course, Interdisciplinary Research Methods, and courses on Africa.