Barbara Miller

Professor Miller received her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in anthropology from Syracuse University. She joined the Elliott School of International Affairs in 1993 as a specialist in the anthropology of international development. Before that, she taught at the University of Rochester, SUNY Cortland, Ithaca College, Cornell University, and the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Miller has done most of her research on gender and health issues in India, but she has also studied rural development in Bangladesh, low-income household budgeting in Jamaica, and Hindu adolescents in Pittsburgh.

Her current research takes three directions: child survival and gender inequality in India, health and illness patterns cross-culturally as affected by rapid development and population movements, and the role of culture in international policy and programs.

Dr. Miller is the director of the Elliott School’s research and policy program on Culture in Global Affairs. Professor Miller teaches undergraduate courses in cultural anthropology and medical anthropology and graduate seminars in medical anthropology and culture, risk and security.

Her books include:

• The Endangered Sex: Neglect of Female Children in Rural North India (2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 1997)
• An edited volume, Sex and Gender Hierarchies (Cambridge University Press, 1993)
• A co-edited volume with Alf Hiltebeitel, Hair: Its Power and Meaning in Asian Cultures (SUNY Press, 1998)
• Three undergraduate textbooks:
  • Cultural Anthropology (Pearson, 5th ed., 2009)
  • Cultural Anthropology in a Globalizing World (Pearson, 2nd ed., 2010)
  • Anthropology (Allyn & Bacon, 2009).

She is the editor of a new series of studies documenting the relevance of anthropology, called Anthropology Works (Pearson/Allyn & Bacon).

Professor Miller served as the associate dean of the Elliott School from July 1999 to August 2002. She is currently serving a three-year term as associate dean for faculty affairs in the school, starting July 2009.