2017 Smith Fellow: Ashanté Reese

Ashanté M. Reese is assistant professor of anthropology at Spelman College. She completed her Doctorate in anthropology (with a specialization in race, gender, and social justice) at American University in 2015 where she also earned a Masters in Public Anthropology in 2013. Her dissertation explored the historical connections between race, class, and the decline of food access in Washington, D.C. as well as the creative ways Black residents navigated the unequal food landscape. She is currently working on a book manuscript entitled, Between a Corner Store and a Safeway: Race, Food, and Geographies of Self-Reliance in the Nation’s Capital which is being published by the University of North Carolina Press. Aside from teaching and research, Dr. Reese enjoys DIY projects, thrifting, reading, photography, hiking, and rollerblading (though she has not figured out how to use the brake!).