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Donald Miller

Leonard K. Firestone Professor of Religion
Pronouns He / Him / His Email demiller@usc.edu Office ACB 439 Office Phone (213) 743-1624

Research & Practice Areas

Religious trends, genocide, oral history, religious ethnography,Pentecostalism

Center, Institute & Lab Affiliations

  • Center for Religion and Civic Culture, Executive Director

Biography

Donald E. Miller, Firestone Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California. Donald Miller is the Executive Director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC as well as a professor of religion and sociology. He is the author/editor of nine books, including Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement (University of California Press, 2007), Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of the Post-Boomer Generation (Rutgers University Press, 2008), Armenia: Portraits of Survival and Hope (University of California Press, 2003), GenX Religion (Routledge, 2000), Reinventing American Protestantism (University of California Press, 1997), Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide (University of California Press, 1993), Homeless Families: The Struggle for Dignity (University of Illinois Press, 1993), Writing and Research in Religious Studies (Prentice Hall, 1992), and The Case for Liberal Christianity (Harper & Row, 1981). Currently Professor Miller is writing a book on the experiences of survivors after the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda. In addition, he is overseeing a Templeton Foundation research initiative on Global Pentecostalism and is series editor for Oxford University Press for a number of volumes that will be published related to Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity. He is married to Lorna Miller. They have two children, Arpi, a doctoral student in sociology at UCLA, and Shont, an attorney, living in Seattle.

Education

  • Ph.D. Social Ethics and Religion, University of Southern California, 1/1975
  • M.A. Social Ethics and Religion, University of Southern California, 1/1972
  • B.A. Psychology, University of Southern California, 1/1968

  • Tenure Track Appointments

    • Director, School of Religion, University of Southern California, 2003 – 2008
    • Executive Director, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, 01/01/1996 –
    • Professor, University of Southern California, 01/01/1993 –
    • Associate Professor, University of Southern California, 01/01/1981 – 01/01/1993
    • Visiting Scholar, Cambridge University, 01/01/1981 – 01/01/1982
    • Visiting Scholar, Cambridge University, 01/01/1978 – 01/01/1979
    • Assistant Professor, University of Southern California, 01/01/1975 – 01/01/1981
    • Instructor, University of Southern California, 01/01/1972 – 01/01/1975

  • Summary Statement of Research Interests

    Professor Miller is a sociologist of religion with interest in global religious trends, new patterns of religious practice, and innovative organizational responses to cultural change. In addition, he has done extensive research on genocide, including oral history projects on the Armenian genocide that occurred in 1915 and the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Currently he is overseeing a project on global Pentecostalism and charismatic Christianity that is based in 23 countries.

    Research Keywords

    religion and social change, Pentecostalism, genocide, violence, faith-based movements, global religious trends

    Research Specialties

    Religious trends, genocide, oral history, religious ethnography,Pentecostalism

  • Contracts and Grants Awarded

    • Global Pentecostalism, (Templeton (John) Foundation), Donald E. Miller, $7,000,000, 01/01/2009 – 12/31/2013
    • Cecil Murray Center for Community Development, (California Community Foundation), Donald E. Miller, $150,000, 06/16/2010 – 06/15/2012
    • Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement, (Comerica Bank), Donald E. Miller, $25,000, 06/16/2010 – 06/15/2012
    • Assessment of African American Clergy, (Liberty Hill Foundation), Donald E. Miller, $10,000, 05/19/2010 – 12/31/2010
    • Gang Violence Intervention, (California Endowment), Donald E. Miller, Cecil Murray, $493,419, 09/01/2008 – 08/31/2010
    • American Muslim Civic Leaders Initiative, (Ford Foundation), Donald E. Miller, $200,000, 07/01/2008 – 06/30/2010
    • Post 1992 Civic Role of Religion, (Haynes Foundation), Donald E. Miller, Richard Flory, $197,941, 07/01/2008 – 06/30/2010
    • American Muslim Civic Leaders Initiative, (Carnegie Foundation), Donald E Miller, $50,000, 10/01/2007 – 06/30/2010
    • Leadership Development in the Afician American Community:, (Irvine Foundation), Donald Miller, Cecil Murray, $600,000, 12/18/2007 – 02/18/2010

  • Book

    • Miller, D. E.Healing, Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Post-Genocide Rwanda.
    • Miller, D. E., Sargeant, K., Flory, R.Spirit and Power: The Global Impact of Pentecostalism. New York: Oxford University Press.
    • Flory, R., Miller, D. E. (2008). Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of the Post-Boomer Generation. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
    • Miller, D. E. (2007). Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
    • Miller, D. E., Miller, L. T. (2003). Armenia: Portraits of Survival and Hope. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
    • Flory, R., Miller, D. E. (2000). Gen X Religion. New York: Routledge.
    • Miller, D. E. (1997). Reinventing American Protestantism: Christianity in the New Millennium. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
    • Miller, D. E., Miller, L. T. (1993). Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
    • Seltser, B. J., Miller, D. E. (1993). Homeless Families: The Struggle for Dignity. Ilinois, Indiana: University of Illinois Press.
    • Miller, D. E., Selster, B. J. (1992). Writing and Research in Religious Studies. Prentice-Hall.
    • Miller, D. E. (1981). The Case for Liberal Christianity. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row.

    Book Chapters

    • Miller, D. E. (2011). Civil Society and Religion. Oxford Handbook on Civil Society pp. 257-269. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Journal Article

    • Miller, D. E. (2007). Progressive Pentecostals: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Vol. 46 (4), pp. 435-445.

    Research Report

    • Flory, R., Loskota, B., Miller, D. E. (2011). Forging a New Moral and Political Agenda: The Civic Role of Religion in Los Angeles, 1992-2010.
    • Photo-essay, “Armenia: Portraits of Survival” (Text by Donald E Miller; photographs by Jerry Berndt). 46 pages., 1994-1995
    • Photo-essay, “Politics of the Spirit: Portraits of Faith and Community in Los Angeles” (Introduction by Donald E. Miller; Photographs by Jerry Berndt). 160 pp., 1997-1998
    • Photo-essay, “Immigrant Religion in the City of the Angels” (Text by Donald E. Miller, Jon Miller, Grace Dyrness; Photographs by Jerry Berndt). 48 pages., 2001-2002
    • Photo-essay, “Orphans of the Rwanda Genocide” (Text by Donald Miller; photographs by Jerry Berndt). 80 pages, 2004-2005
    • USC Endowed Professorship, Leonard K. Firestone Professor of Religion, 2016/08/16-2020/05/15
    • USC Endowed Professorship, Leonard Firestone Professorship in Religion, 1996/01/01-2016/08/15
    • President, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2005-2006
    • USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, 2002

  • Administrative Appointments

    • Executive Director, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, 1996 – 2012

  • Professional Offices

    • President, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2006-2007
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