A conversation with Professor Channon S. Miller ’11 Assistant Professor of American Studies and History
Mead Fellow Quin McGlame ’25 recently spoke with Professor Channon S. Miller ’11, Assistant Professor of American Studies and History at Trinity College with a focus on African American History and Black Women’s Studies. 
Born and raised in Hartford, Professor Miller was thrilled when she got the opportunity to return to her alma mater as a professor, fondly recalling the memories she made as a student. She is thrilled to be able to teach some of the courses she took at Trinity as a student, paying homage to the various professors who helped inspire her during her undergraduate years including Professor Davarian Baldwin in American Studies, Professor Laura Holt in Psychology, and the recently retired, Professor Janet Bauer in Anthropology. After Trinity, Professor Miller went to Boston University for her M.A. and Ph.D. in American Studies. She then went to the University of San Diego in a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor. From 2019 until 2023 she held this position in the Department of History. She returned to Trinity last year and was awarded the Ford Fellowship, a highly prestigious and competitive award given to those who have demonstrated superior academic achievement. She was selected as one of fourteen individuals in the Postdoctoral Competition. The Fellowship seeks to “increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, maximizing the educational benefits of diversity, and increasing the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students”.
A list of the 2023 winners can be found at this link: https://ra.nas.edu/FordFellows20/ExtRpts/PressReleaseRoster.aspx?RptMode=AW&CompYr=2023
Currently, she is in the process of writing a book tentatively entitled Diasporic Homeplaces: Black Women’s Trans-Geographic Mothering Work. This book will examine the history of Black women’s organizing and working together for their family’s survival in Hartford, CT over the past 50 years. Professor Miller was inspired by this project as she wanted to share stories about Black motherhood and the Black diaspora in Hartford. For this book Professor Miller used oral history to learn these people’s stories firsthand, a research technique she loves doing. She enjoys being able to use oral history as a way to share people’s personal stories, and to give back to the community she grew up in. Additionally, Professor Miller is teaching HIST-209: African-American History and will teach both HIST-268: Black Inner Lives & HIST-354: Black American Women’s History next semester, all courses she is deeply passionate about. She looks forward to teaching these classes to students and telling lesser-known stories about African-American history and its unique relationship with gender. When asked to advise someone interested in studying history at Trinity College, Professor Miller encouraged students to take a class that piques their interest. She believes that this curiosity might lead to something students discovering something they are truly passionate about.
Professor Miller also recently published a new article in The Journal of African American History titled Drowning in a Dead River: The Mothers of Charter Oak Terrace and Urban Resistance to Ecological Catastrophe.
A link to the journal can be found at: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jaah/current
