A Celebration of the Work of James A Miller

Professor James A. Miller

The Departments of English and American Studies and the Program in Africana Studies invite you to join us for "A Celebration of the Work of James A. Miller," on Friday, September 11, from 2-6 PM.  This event will be held in the Jack Morton Auditorium (805 21st Street NW).

Professor James Miller (1944-2015) was a GW Professor of English, American Studies, and Africana Studies.  His work focused on a wide range of topics in African American literary and cultural studies across  the 20^th and 21^stcenturies.  Professor Miller was the author of Remembering Scottsboro: The Legacy of an Infamous Trial (Princeton University Press, 2009), as well as numerous articles and volumes focused on African American history, literature, music, film, and theory.

"A Celebration of the Work of James A. Miller" will begin with a panel of invited scholars.  The afternoon will continue with a reading by Professor Edward P. Jones, and conclude with a reception featuring the jazz ensemble Witney's Swing N Gin.  The event is free and open to the public; it is made possible by the Wang Endowment in the Department of English.

2-3:30 PM Panel: The Work of James A. Miller

Barbara Foley (English and American Studies, Rutgers-Newark), “Not a Cocktail Party: The New Negro Movement and the Left”

Farah Jasmine Griffin (English, Comparative Literature, and African American Studies, Columbia), “Reading, Justice, and the African American Novel”

Paul Gardullo (Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture), “From Slave Ships to the Mothership: Missions into Expanding ‘The Archive’ at the Smithsonian’s NMAAHC”

3:30-4 PM Break

4-4:45 PM A Reading by Edward P. Jones (Creative Writing and English, GWU)

5-6 Jazz Reception featuring Witney's Swing N Gin

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Memorial Service and Donations for James A. Miller

The National City Christian Church
is on the north side of Thomas Circle
in NW Washington

A memorial service for Professor James A. Miller will be held tomorrow, August 29, 2015, at the National City Christian Church on Thomas Circle.  The service will be held at 2:00 PM.

Memorial donations in honor of James A. Miller may be directed to either of the institutions below, both of which he strongly supported.

School Without Walls

The School Without Walls is a small public magnet school situated on the campus of George Washington University. The school provides its diverse student body with an interactive and experiential education, built on the humanities, that uses the city and the world as a classroom. Your donations will support student enrichment activities such as field trips, travel to debate tournaments, and student research.

You may send your contribution to the address below, noting that it is in honor of James A. Miller.

School Without Walls

2130 G. St. NW

Washington, DC 20052

USA

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Scheduled to open on the national mall in 2016, this newest Smithsonian museum will be a place where all visitors can learn about the richness and diversity of the African American experience. Your donations will support the curatorial and collections development work of the museum.

You may donate in honor of Jim Miller via www.go.si.edu/professormiller or by mailing a contribution to the address below, noting that the contribution is in honor of James A. Miller.

NMAAHC

PO Box 96832

Washington, DC 20090-6832

USA

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In Memoriam: James A. Miller

Professor James A. Miller
in his English Department office

The English Department is mourning the loss of Professor Jim Miller, our colleague, teacher, mentor, and friend, who died on June 19, after a year-long battle with cancer.  Jim was a highly-respected scholar and beloved teacher in English, American Studies, and Africana Studies whose work focused on African American literary and cultural studies across the 20^th and 21^stcenturies, often with a specific focus on the Washington, DC, area.

The Washington Post notes the passing of prominent Washington-area figures; that obituary can be accessed here.  The Post writes:

'Dr. Miller was born in Providence, R.I. He joined the GWU faculty in 1998 after having taught at the University of South Carolina and at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. At GWU he taught a course on “Black Culture in the Nation’s Capital.” He lectured often to D.C. public-school classes at the School Without Walls.

He was author of a 2009 book, “Remembering Scottsboro,” about the 1931 trial and conviction of nine black youths accused of raping two white women in Scottsboro, Ala. He had written chapters in books about Washington and had reviewed contemporary African American literature in The Washington Post."

Professor Miller's 2011 interview
with BookTV GWU

In 2011, Jim gave a BookTV GWU interview on Remembering Scottsboro.  You can view this interview here.

Jim received his A.B. in English from Brown in 1966 and his Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1976, with a dissertation on “The Struggle for Identity in the Major Works of Richard Wright.”  He taught popular courses at GW on Wright, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison and others (and, as GW Today notes in a piece accessible here, while an undergraduate at Brown, Jim had met Ellison himself).  In 2009, Jim was a Fulbright Scholar in the Department of English/School of Literature and Language Studies at the University of The Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.  He received the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award from GW in 2008 and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching District of Columbia Professor of the Year Award in 2002.  In 2012, he received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Buffalo’s Alumni Association Award.  At the time of his death, Jim was completing a new project on trans-Atlantic Black cultural production, studying musicians and writers with connections to South Africa, England, and the United States. 

We want to honor these many accomplishments, of course, but Jim's colleagues and friends have also been searching for the words to describe what a gentle, kind, thoughtful man he was.  We feel his loss profoundly:  everyone in the English Department ended up in Jim's office at some point, because everyone valued his advice, his wisdom, his quick wit.  Rest in Peace, Jim Miller.  We love you and we miss you.

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