Naomi Reed

Dr. Naomi Reed is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. She specializes in sociocultural anthropology, focusing on whiteness, Blackness, cultural heritage, and education, particularly in the context of Sugar Land, Texas, the Sugar Land 95, and US History curriculum. As a faculty member, she mentors undergraduate students in their capstone research projects and actively engages in community-based scholarship.

• Education: B.S. in Pure Mathematics (University of Texas at Austin), M.A. in Social Sciences (University of Chicago), Ph.D. in Social Anthropology and African Diaspora Studies (University of Texas at Austin)

Her research explores intersectional gender expression in recreational communities, race and racism in the American South, and the liberatory potential of oral histories at predominantly white institutions. She co-organized panels at the Southwestern Anthropology Association Conference (2025) and the Southwestern Social Science Association Conference (2024), where her students presented ethnographic analyses of gender in tabletop gaming, skateboarding culture, and beauty standards. In 2024, she was recognized with a Gracie Award for her podcast series Sugar Land, which investigates racial histories in Texas.

• Scientific Awards: 2024 Gracie Award for Best Investigative Feature [Radio ‐ Nationally Syndicated Non‐Commercial] for the podcast series Sugar Land

Dr. Reed also collaborates with students on projects like SCOPE, which uncovered histories of minority athletes at SU, and consults on community input for memorialization efforts related to the Bullhead Camp Cemetery. She co-hosts the Texas Newsroom Podcast series Sugar Land, combining academic rigor with public engagement.