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Christine Miller

Design management professor

Education

  • Ph.D., interdisciplinary, Wayne State University
  • M.A., United States-Japan relations/contemporary Japanese society, Goddard College
  • B.A., studio art, University of California

Credentials

  • Adjunct professor, Fall 2019-present, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA
    Teach on ground undergraduate contextual research methods, online graduate-level history and interpretation of innovation.
  • Adjunct professor, Fall 2019, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
    Taught online undergraduate course Anthropology, Culture and Society using the Canvas teaching/learning platform. Class size: 75 students. Worked with a TA.
  • Adjunct professor, 2018-2019, Institute of Design, Illinois Tech, Chicago, IL
    Developed and taught classes in Theory and Human Centered Design, Introduction to Observing Users (Ethnography), Interdisciplinary Prototyping, and Design Research. Faculty lead on student practicum (fall 2018) for Peoples Gas and Franklin Energy: directed graduate student team in development of design-led innovation projects to increase uptake of energy efficiency programs within low-income communities in Chicago.
  • Associate clinical professor of innovation, 2014-2018, Stuart School of Business, Illinois Tech, Chicago, IL
    Developed and taught graduate and undergraduate courses in business fundamentals (accounting, managing, and marketing) and application of design in business, innovation, and market research. Clients included CEMEX R&D, United Nations International Telecom Union (ITU)
  • Professor and assistant director of design management, 2007-2014, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA
    Developed and taught courses in the design management curriculum: human centered design, history of innovation, field methods, and design research. Developed courses for M.F.A. program in design management, initiated quarterly M.F.A. thesis reviews.
  • Consultant/ethnographer/principal, 1998-present, Motorola User-Centered Solutions Lab
    Work a funded contract for the ethnographic study of communication and sharing practices within established social networks. Research design, extensive field research for primary data collection, analysis and presentation for advanced product development at Motorola Labs.

Awards, recognitions, and honors

  • Outstanding Book of the Year, Academy of Human Resource Development, Research in Organizations: Foundations and Methods of Inquiry, 2005

Organizations

  • American Anthropological Association (AAA)
  • Association for the Anthropology of Policy (ASAP)
  • National Association for the Practice of Anthropology (NAPA)
  • Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA)

Publications and presentations

Presentations

  • “Anthropology, Design, and Converging Pathways in the Sciences.” Lecture presented at HumanTech Conference. SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland, Oct. 2019.
  • “Mapping Design Anthropology: Tracking the development of an emerging transdisciplinary field”. Collaborative Innovation Networks Conference (COINs 2019). Warsaw, Poland, Oct. 2019.
  • “Ethics in the Trenches: A Bottom-up Alternative to Ethics Education in STEM.” Presented for sponsored panel “Innovative Methods in a Variety of Workplaces” (National Association for Practicing Anthropology). Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) conference, Portland, OR, March 2019.
  • With Kizhakke, V., Li, X., and Manjarres, T. “Research through Design: Prototypes as Forms of Investigation to Explore Energy Efficiency in Low Income Communities.” Presented at Decipher 2018 AIGA Design Educators Conference, Ann Arbor, MI. Conference Proceedings, 2018.
  • “When Objects Become Things: Fetishism as a Subject of Investigation.” Presented at panel session for 117th American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, San Jose, CA, Nov. 2018.
  • “Teaching and Practicing Design Anthropology.” Presented panel discussion at 117th American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting 2018, San Jose, CA, 2018.
  • “Research through Design: Prototypes as Forms of Investigation to Explore Energy Efficiency in Low Income Communities.” Presented at Decipher 2018 AIGA Design Educators Conference, Ann Arbor, MI, Sept. 2018.
  • “Design Anthropology: An Emerging Transdisciplinary Field”. Invited Panel Session, 116th American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting 2017, Washington, D.C., Nov. 2017.

Publications

  • “Design Anthropology.” In M. Aldenderfer (Ed.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.
  • Reviewer. Annals of Anthropology forthcoming, 2020.
  • With Vinod Kizhakke, Xuanbai Li, Thomas Manjarres, and Anijo Mathew. "Research in and through Design: Prototypes as Forms of Investigation to Explore Energy Efficiency in Low Income Communities." In Murdoch-Kitt, K., & Sosa-Tzec, O. Decipher 1, 2019.
  • With Laas, K., Brey, E. Hildt, E., and Taylor, S. “Infusing Ethics in Research Groups: A Bottom-Up, Context-Specific Approach.” Advances in Engineering Education (in review), 2019.
  • With E. Hildt, Laas, K, Taylor, S. and Brey, E. “Empowering Graduate Students to Address Ethics in Research Environments.” Cambridge Quarterly of Ethics and Healthcare. (in review), 2019.
  • “Introduction.” Journal of Business Anthropology. Editor, Special Issue, Design Anthropology, Dec. 4, 2018.
  • Design + Anthropology: Converging Pathways in Anthropology and Design. New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis, 2018
  • With Verrilli, J., Jain, T. and Rokop, N. “Enhancing Social and Intellectual Collaboration in Innovation Networks: A Study of Entrepreneurial Networks in an Urban Technological University.” Collaborative Innovation Networks - Building Adaptive and Resilient Organizations. F. Grippa, J. Leitão, J. Gluesing, K. Riopelle and P. Gloor, Eds. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG, 2018.
  • “Owning It: Evolving Ethics in Design and Design Research.” Ethics in the Anthropology of Business. Timothy de Waal Malefyt and Robert J. Morais, Eds. Oxfordshire, UK: Taylor & Francis, 2017.
  • “Enchanted Objects, Social Robots, and the Internet of Things: The Role of Imagination and Design in Cultural Change and Innovation.” Cultural Change and Innovation. Maryann McCabe and Elizabeth K. Briody, Eds. Lanham, MD: Lexington Press, 2017.
  • With Gloor, Peter, Fronzetti Colladon, Andre, & Pellegrini, R.  “Measuring the Level of Global Awareness on Social Media.” Designing Networks for Innovation and Improvisation. M. Zylka, H. Führes, A. Fronzetti Colladon, & P. A. Gloor (Eds.), Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2016.
  • “Liminality and the Transitions Inherent in Multiple-disciplinary Collaborative Work.” Journal of Business Anthropology. Special Issue 2, Spring 2016.