Biography

Christopher A. Miller has spent most of his career exploring application of museum-derived modes of teaching and learning within the context of higher education.  These modes are interpretation, curation, and encounters with artifacts and visuals.  He has also been deeply involved in thinking about place, in Appalachia, and beyond.

During 2011 and 2014, Miller was a Fulbright Scholar to Ukraine.  In 2011, he taught at the Vasyl Stefanik Precarpathian National University Institute for Tourism.  In 2014, he taught at the Ivano-Frankivsk State College for Technology and Business.  His Fulbright research explored the role of material culture and public visuals in constructing and portraying highlander identity in Carpathian Mountain Ukraine and comparing this construction to that which happens in American Appalachia.  He continues to research and explore highlander identity-work in both regions, through the lenses provided by communication theories.

Miller has been at Berea College since 1993, initially appointed as Director of Berea College’s Appalachian Museum (closed 1998). At Berea, he has also served as Interim Director & Acting Director of the Appalachian Center, and Networked Services Administrator. Prior to Berea College, Miller worked in two public museums: The Minnesota History Center (St. Paul, Minnesota) and the Outagamie Museum & Houdini Historical Center (Appleton, Wisconsin) [now called the Museum at the Castle].

He was also a pioneer in digital humanities in Kentucky, first putting virtual exhibitions online in 1995 and Quicktime VR 3-D imaging of artifacts in 1999.  He continues to work in the area of computer mediated access to artifacts, virtual exhibitions, and computer-assisted content analysis.  He is currently pursing a PhD in Communication and Information at the University of Kentucky focused on the intersections of communication, material culture, and place in human lives.

Miller also has been highly involved in the Berea College Community having served on the General Faculty Executive Council, the Strategic Planning Committee, Sexual Harassment Policy Review Committee, and many more.  He also chaired the Campus Information Resources Committee for three years during the era when Berea moved from computer labs to universal access.