James Miller | Scholars@Duke

James Miller
Professor of Humanities at Duke Kunshan University

James Miller is the inaugural Professor of Humanities at Duke Kunshan University, Chair of the Arts and Humanities Division, and co-director of the DKU Humanities Research Center . Prior to his appointment at Duke Kunshan, Dr. Miller served as the director of the interdisciplinary graduate program in cultural studies, and as the director of the School of Religion, at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Dr. Miller's research is based in the study of Chinese philosophy, theology, and religion, with an emphasis on philosophy of nature, environmental ethics, and the intersection of religion and ecology in China. He is known worldwide as a scholar of Daoism, China's indigenous religion, and especially its relation to ecology. He has published six books including, most recently, China's Green Religion: Daoism and the Quest for a Sustainable Future (Columbia 2017).

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Professor of Humanities at Duke Kunshan University, DKU Faculty, Duke Kunshan University 2018

Contact Information

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., Boston University 2000
Leadership & Clinical Positions at Duke
- Chair, Arts and Humanities Division, Duke Kunshan University
  Co-Director, Duke Kunshan University Humanities Research Center
Expertise
Subject Headings
Global Scholarship
- Expertise
  - China (Country)
- Research
  - China (Country)
- Teaching
  - Canada (Country)
  - China (Country)
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Books
  - Miller, J. China’s green religion : Daoism and the quest for a sustainable future. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017. (Monograph)
  - Religion and Ecological Sustainability in China. Edited by J Miller, P van der Veer, and D Smyer Yu. Routledge, 2014. (Edited Book)
  - Religion and Ecological Sustainability in China. Edited by J Miller, P van der Veer, and D Smyer Yu. Routledge, 2014. (Edited Book)
  - Miller, J. Daoism; A Beginner’s Guide. Oneworld Publications, 2008.
  - Miller, J. The Way of Highest Clarity Nature, Vision and Revelation in Medieval China. 2008.
  - Chinese Religions in Contemporary Societies. Edited by J Miller. Abc-clio, 2006. (Edited Book)
  - Miller, J. Daoismo. Una introduzione. Fazi Editore, 2005.
  - Miller, J. Daoism: A Short Introduction. Oxford,: OneWorld Publications, 2003. (Monograph)
  - Daoism and ecology: ways within a cosmic landscape. Edited by N Girardot, J Miller, and X Liu. Harvard Univ Ctr for the Study of World Religions, 2001. (Edited Book)
  - Daoism and ecology: ways within a cosmic landscape. Edited by N Girardot, J Miller, and X Liu. Harvard Univ Ctr for the Study of World Religions, 2001. (Edited Book)
- Academic Articles
  - Miller, J, and 苗建時, . "Transfiguration, Spirituality and Embodiment: Perspectives from Christian and Daoist Scriptures." 宗教哲學 (2016): 49-73. (Academic Article) Open Access Copy
  - Murray, DM, and Miller, J. "TRADUÇAO: A Sociedade Taoísta do Brasil e a globalizaçao do Daoismo da Ortodoxia Unitária." Religare: Revista do Programa de Pós-Graduaç ao em Ciências das Religi oes da UFPB 12 (2016): 315-343. Open Access Copy
  - Miller, J. "Time, and again, and forever: The somatic experience of time in daoist philosophy and religion." Kronoscope 15, no. 1 (January 1, 2015): 13-25. Full Text Open Access Copy
  - Miller, J. "Authenticity, sincerity and spontaneity: The mutual implication of nature and religion in China and the West." Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 25, no. 3 (December 1, 2013): 283-307. Full Text Open Access Copy
  - Miller, J. "Is green the new red? The role of religion in creating a sustainable China." Nature and Culture 8, no. 3 (November 7, 2013): 249-264. Full Text Open Access Copy
  - Murray, DM, and Miller, J. "The Daoist Society of Brazil and the Globalization of Orthodox Unity Daoism." Journal of Daoist Studies 6, no. 1 (2013): 93-114. Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Chinese cultural factors favouring biotechnology research." Worldviews: Environment, Culture, Religion 14, no. 1 (April 1, 2010): 96-105. (Review) Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Humans Must Conquer Nature: Philosophical and Religious Sources of China’s Anti-Environmental Ideology." (2010). (Academic Article)
  - Miller, J. "All nature was a mirror: A response to "All nature was a garden" by Augustin Berque." Western Humanities Review 63, no. 3 (September 1, 2009): 23-29.
  - Miller, J, and Siegler, E. "Of Alchemy and Authenticity: Teaching About Daoism Today." Teaching Theology & Religion 10, no. 2 (April 2007): 101-108. Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Mysticism and Kingship in China: The Heart of Chinese Wisdom. By Julia Ching; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. xxi, 302 pages. $74.95 (cloth); $27.95 (paper)." The Journal of Asian Studies 60, no. 4 (November 2001): 1146-1147. Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Envisioning the Daoist body in the economy of cosmic power." Daedalus 130, no. 4 (September 1, 2001): 265-282. Open Access Copy
- Book Sections
  - Miller, J. "China: Landscapes, cultures, ecologies, religions." In Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology, 181-189. July 22, 2016. Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Ecology, Aesthetics and Daoist Body Cultivation." In Environmental Philosophy in Asian Traditions of Thought, edited by JB Callicott and J McRae, 225-244. SUNY Press, 2014. (Chapter)
  - Miller, J. "Connecting Religion and Ecology." In Controversies in contemporary religion : education, law, politics, society, and spirituality, edited by P Hedges. Santa Barabra, CA: Praeger, 2014. (Chapter)
  - Smyer Yu, D, Miller, J, and van der Veer, P. "Introduction: The diversity of eco-religious practice in China." In Religion and ecological sustainability in China, 1-16. Routledge, 2014.
  - Xia, C, Guoxiang, P, and Miller, J. "‘Hard-hearted’ and ‘soft-hearted’ ecologies: A rereading of Confucian and Daoist classics." In Religion and Ecological Sustainability in China, edited by Miller, J, Smyer Yu, D and van der Veer, P, 71-83.: Routledge, January 1, 2014. (Chapter) Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Daoism and development." In Handbook of Research on Development and Religion, 113-123. July 24, 2013.
  - Miller, J. "Monitory democracy and ecological civilization in the people's republic of China." In Civil Society in the Age of Monitory Democracy, 137-148. May 15, 2013.
  - Miller, J. "Nature, impersonality, and absence in the theology of highest clarity daoism." In Models of God and Alternative Ultimate Realities, 669-680. January 1, 2013. Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Nature." In The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Chinese Religions, 349-368. March 14, 2012. Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Monitory Democracy and Ecological Civilization in the People’s Republic of China." 2012.
  - Miller, J. "Nature in Chinese Traditions of Thought." Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.
  - Miller, J. "Truth in Chinese Religion." 2012.
  - Miller, J. "Daoism and Nature." In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology. September 2, 2009. Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Religion, Nature and Modernization in China." In Technology, Trust and Religion: Roles of Religion in Controversies on Ecology and the Modification of Life, edited by WB Drees, 107-122. Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2009. (Chapter) Link to Item
  - Miller, J. "Daoism and ecology." 2006.
  - Miller, J. "The Historical Legacy of China’s Religious Traditions." In Chinse Religions in Contemporary Societies, edited by J Miller, 9-30. 2006. (Chapter)
  - Miller, J. "The Historical Legacy of China’s Religious Traditions." In Chinse Religions in Contemporary Societies, edited by J Miller, 9-30. 2006. (Chapter)
  - Xiang, H, and Miller, J. "Confucian Spirituality in an Ecological Age." In Chinese Religions in Contemporary Societies, edited by J Miller, 55-67. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2006. (Chapter)
  - Xiang, H, and Miller, J. "Confucian Spirituality in an Ecological Age." In Chinese Religions in Contemporary Societies, edited by J Miller, 55-67. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2006. (Chapter)
  - Miller, J. "Manifesto for a Daoist Theology of Messianic Wisdom." 283-283. CRVP, 2004.
  - Miller, J. "Daoism and Nature." In Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science, 393-409. Springer Netherlands, 2003. Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Respecting the Environment, or Visualizing Highest Clarity." In Daoism and Ecology: Ways within a Cosmic Landscape, edited by N Girardot, J Miller, and X Liu, 351-60. Cambridge: Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions, 2001. (Chapter)
  - Miller, J. "Respecting the Environment, or Visualizing Highest Clarity." In Daoism and Ecology: Ways within a Cosmic Landscape, edited by N Girardot, J Miller, and X Liu, 351-60. Cambridge: Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions, 2001. (Chapter)
- Book Reviews
  - Miller, J. "Celestial Masters: History and Ritual in Early Daoist Communities by Terry F. Kleeman." China Review International 22 (2015): 128-130.
  - Miller, J. "Daoism in History: Essays in Honour of Liu Ts'un-Yan â Edited by Benjamin Penny." Religious Studies Review 35, no. 4 (December 2009): 307-308. Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Cultivating Perfection: Mysticism and Self-transformation in Early Quanzhen Daoism." SOPHIA 48, no. 1 (February 2009): 95-98. Full Text Link to Item
  - Miller, J. "Review of Louis Komjathy, Cultivating Perfection: Mysticism and Self-transformation in Early Quanzhen Daoism." Sophia 48 (2009): 95-98.
  - Miller, J. "The Encyclopedia of Taoism." Religious Studies Review 34, no. 4 (December 2008): 261-264. Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Book Review: Overcoming Our Evil: Human Nature and Spiritual Exercises in Xunzi and Augustine." Theological Studies 69, no. 1 (February 2008): 201-202. Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Book Review: Overcoming Our Evil: Human Nature and Spiritual Exercises in Xunzi and Augustine." Theological Studies 69 (2008): 201-202.
  - Miller, J. "The Pristine Dao: Metaphysics in Early Daoist Discourse. By THOMAS MICHAEL. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005. xii, 170 pp. $64.50 (cloth); $21.95 (paper)." The Journal of Asian Studies 66 (2007): 1122-1124.
  - Miller, J. "Taoism: The Enduring Tradition (review)." China Review International 13, no. 1 (2006): 174-177. Full Text
  - Miller, J, and Cline, EM. "Daoism: A Short Introduction." Journal of Chinese Philosophy 31, no. 4 (December 2004): 547-549. Full Text
  - Miller, J. "The Tao of the West and the Emerging Discipline of Daoist Studies." Religious Studies Review 28 (2002): 317-318.
  - Miller, J. "Wandering at Ease in the Zhuangzi (review)." Philosophy East and West 51, no. 1 (2001): 125-127. Full Text
  - Miller, J. "Mysticism and Kingship in China: The Heart of Chinese Wisdom. By Julia Ching; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. xxi, 302 pages. $74.95 (cloth); $27.95 (paper)." The Journal of Asian Studies 60 (2001): 1146-1147.
  - Miller, J. "Asceticism in early Taoist religion." PHILOSOPHY EAST & WEST 50, no. 3 (July 2000): 460-461. Link to Item
- Reports
  - Miller, J. Chinese Sexual Yoga and the Way of Immortality. 2012.
  - Miller, J. RELS-235* Religion and Environment: Or how I learned to stop worrying about my lectures and love my students. 2012.
- Conference Papers
  - Miller, J. "Creating Cultures of Ecological Sustainability." 2012.
  - Miller, J. "Liminal animals: exotic, endangered and transgenic creatures." 2012.
  - Miller, J. "Religion, Ecology and the Future of the Human Species." 2012.
  - Miller, J. "Religión, Naturaleza y Modernidad: la búsqueda para un futuro sostenible en la República popular de China." 2012.
  - Miller, J. "TRANSFIGURED SPACE The Education and Cultivation of Perfected Purple Yang." 2012.
  - Miller, J. "The Economy of Cosmic Power: A Vision for a Daoist Theology of Religion." 2012.
  - Miller, J. "The Space of Nature and the Nature of Space in the Esoteric Biography of Perfected Purple Yang 紫陽真人內傳." 2012.
  - Miller, J. "The Symbolic and Environmental Value of Water in Daoism." 2012.
  - Miller, J. "Why Believing in the Afterlife is Valuable." 2012.
  - Miller, J. "“Make It So!” The Persistence of Religion." 2012.
  - Miller, J. "China’s Quest for an Ecologically Sustainable Culture." Atlantic-Community. org, 2009.
  - Miller, J, and Vashon Island, WA. "Living Light: Shangqing Daoist Cultivation in Theory and Practice." 2001.
- Theses and Dissertations
  - Miller, J. The economy of cosmic power: a theory of religious transaction and a comparative study of Shangqing Daoism and the Christian religion of Augustine of Hippo. 2000. (PhD Thesis)
Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
Service to the Profession
- Co-Director. Religion and Ecology Unit. American Academy of Religion. 2016 - 2018 2016 - 2018

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Leadership & Clinical Positions at Duke

Subject Headings

Global Scholarship

Expertise

Research

Teaching

Selected Publications

Books

Academic Articles

Book Sections

Book Reviews

Reports

Conference Papers

Theses and Dissertations

Service to the Profession