Julie B. Miller

Ever since I was a kid, I was always interested in religion. I grew up a very dutiful and devout Catholic, but I always had questions. Unfortunately, no one seemed to have any answers, or at least any that satisfied me. When I went to college, I was excited to find that not only did professors encourage me to ask questions, but they also had some answers. However, they also admitted when they didn't know the answers, or if there really were any. I found that honesty refreshing. After getting my Masters degree and teaching high school for four years at an all boys Jesuit high school, I went back to graduate school to get my doctorate. I wrote my dissertation on the rhetoric of sexual violence in medieval women mystics. I've expanded my research interests since then but am still interested in the foundations of the questions raised by these fields. I very much enjoy working with students and helping them to find the questions and ideas that might propel them through their own life trajectories, be they in religion, cultural studies, or not.

Th.D, Harvard University

M.T.S., Harvard University

B.A., University of Notre Dame

• Assistant Professor Religious Studies, 2000-2006
• Associate Professor of Religious Studies, 2006-2014
• Professor of Religious Studies, 2014-present
• Chair, Religious Studies Department, 2007-2019
• Chair, Cultural Studies Department, 2002-present
• Chair, Honors Council, 2014-2018
• Director, Learning Community Initiative, 2007-2015
• Peer Reviewer, Anselm Academic Publishing, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Teaching Theology and Religion

• “Democracy, Values and the 2020 Election.” September 24, 2020. UIW. Panel Member. Sponsored by the Center for Civic Leadership.
• Moral Injury and the Catholic Church: The Sexual Abuse Crisis and the Possibility of Healing.” Podium Presentation, UIW Research Week, 2020.
• Panel Member, “Getting Real About Sexuality and Sexual Health: A Candid Discussion with Students and Researchers,” Conflict and Aftermath: Trauma & Women’s and Gender Studies Symposium, UIW, April 2019.
• Presentation, “Moral Injury, Sexual Violence and the Church,” Conflict and Aftermath: Trauma & Women’s and Gender Studies Symposium, UIW, April 2019.
• Verbum Incarnatum, Volume 7. “Conflict and Aftermath.” J. Miller, B.C. Miele, L. D’Amico and Z. Culverhouse, co-editors, 2019.
• Book Review, God on High: Religion, Cannabis and the Quest for Legitimacy by Laurie Cozad. Lexington Books, 2018. Review requested by publisher.
• From Abstraction to Abjection: The Use of Disgust in the Classroom. Podium Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the America Academy of Religion, November 2018, Denver, CO.
• Facilitator, “Catholicism and Sexuality.” UIW Campus Discussion. Facilitator. December 2018.
• Panel Member, “Hook-up Culture and The Catholic Campus.” UIW Campus Discussion. November 2018.
• "Diversity, Inclusion, and the Cultivation of Empathy," Invited Presentation, UIW Faculty Workshop, August 2018.
• "Community Engagement and the Cultivation of Empathy," Podium Presentation, UIW Research Week, 2018.
• Book Review Essay, Sacrifice and Delight in the Mystical Theologies of Anna Maria van Schurman and Madame Jeanne Guyon, Notre Dame, Indiana, University of Notre Dame Press, 2014. In Augustinian Review, 2017.
• Podium Presentation, “Pedagogies of Community Engagement: Wabash Workshop Lessons Learned.” Service Learning Showcase, UIW, March 31, 2017.
• Panel Member, UIW Civility Week, “Race, Religion and Gender,” September 2015.
• Presenter, CCVI Missionary Orientation, “Security, Sexuality and Mission, September 2015.
• Podium Presentation, “The Feminist Pedagogy of Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza,” UIW Research Week, February 2015.
• “Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Feminist Pedagogy, and the College Classroom.” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, November 2014
• Presenter and Facilitator, UIW Library Film Series, “Miss Representation,” October 2014

• American Academy of Religion
• Society of Christian Ethics
• Catholic Theological Society of America

Watching college and pro football, collecting Christmas ornaments from places I visit, traveling almost anywhere, being by the ocean, preferably on a rocky coastline.

• Fellow, NEH Grant, Trauma: Conflict and Aftermath, January 2016-present
• Fellow, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Religion and Theology,
• June 2016-June 2017
• Thomas French Chair in Religious Studies, 2012-2015
• Mission Continues: Sr. Eleanor Ann Young Award for Truth, Jan 2013
• UIW Inaugural Leadership Retreat Invitee and Participant, Fall, 2010
• Sabbatical Leave, Spring 2009
• Nominee, UIW Presidential Teaching Award (Spring 2005, 2007, 2010)
• Fulbright Study Tour in China (Summer 2004)
• Wabash Center Research Grant (Summer 2002)
• Wabash Center Teaching Workshop Fellow (Summer 2001-Summer 2002)
• Featured Scholar in the National Catholic Reporter, “The Word Made Fresh: New
• Thinkers” series, (September 2001)
• STAR (Scholar-Teachers Are Recognized) Award, UIW, (Spring 2001)
• IBM ThinkPad Technology Award, (Spring 2001)
• Title V UIW Faculty Development Grant recipient (Summer 2001)

• CHASS Representative to the University Rank and Tenure Committee, 2019-2023
• CHASS Senate Representative, 2017-2019, 2009-2011
• Member, President's Council of Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity, 2018-2020
• Women's and Gender Studies Board, 2018-present
• CHASS Curriculum Committee, Fall 2016-Spring 2018
• Chair, Honors Council, 2014-2018
• University Graduate Council, 2016-2018
• Diversity and Inclusivity Task Force, January 2016-2017
• Faculty Led-Study Abroad trip to Turkey, May 2014
• Green Education Committee, 2013- 2014
• UIW Mission Effectiveness Committee, September 2001-present
• University Planning Commission, 2009-Spring 2011
• Cardinal Ally, 2009-present
• Honors Program Mentor, 2010- 2012
• Chair, First-Year Curriculum Task Force, 2005-2006
• Faculty Affairs Committee, 2004-2006

Feminist Theologies, Sexual Violence, Women's and Gender Studies, Trauma, Moral Injury, Environmental Theology and Ethics, Race and Religion in the US, Religion and Affect

• Introduction to Theology and Ethics
• God and Human Sexuality
• Christian Ethics
• Women in the Christian Tradition
• Feminist Theologies
• Environmental Theology and Ethics
• Theological Anthropology
• Jesus of History, Christ of Faith
• Understanding Catholicism
• Race and Religion
• Introduction to Cultural Studies
• Cultural Studies Colloquium
• Cultural Studies Senior Seminar