Amber Anderson

Amber Anderson, Ph.D. joined the History Department at the Park School in 2019 after previously teaching Anthropology, Archaeology, History, and General Education courses at both the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Medaille College. Her undergraduate degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges focused on Anthropology and History, with a minor in Social Studies Education, while her Masters and Ph.D came from SUNY Buffalo in the field of Archaeology. Dr. Anderson brings extensive archaeological and anthropological experience to Park, having undertaken archaeological or anthropological studies in Denmark, Northern Ireland, The Republic of Ireland, Ecuador, Peru, and Western New York. She also has a long history of teaching at the collegiate level, and has been nominated for and/or won Excellence in Teaching Awards at every higher ed institution she taught at.

At Park, Dr. Anderson teaches History Courses in the Middle and Upper schools, such as World Geography 7, World History 9 and 10, Introduction to Anthropology, World Religions and African American History, among others. She has also served as the Thesis Advisor for Senior Seminar/Thesis. In the classroom, Dr. Anderson focuses on exploring the lesser-discussed or marginalized cultures of the world and helps students develop critical thinking skills through questioning and close reading. She also emphasizes experiential learning through hands-on activities, such as artifact reconstruction, creating cuneiform tablets, creating effigy clay figures, writing in cuneiform and more, or will use field trips or guest speakers to connect students to the cultures they are learning about.