HMC alumnus appointed Assistant Professor at Cornell

Image courtesy of Dr Jordan Miller

A Harris Manchester College alumnus has been appointed Assistant Professor at Cornell University. Dr Jordan Miller, who studied at the College for a degree in Egyptology and Assyriology, will take up the role in Cornell’s Department of Near Eastern Studies this summer, becoming the Ivy League Institution’s first Egyptologist.

After graduating in 2017, Dr Miller went on to complete his MSt and DPhil at Queen’s College, Oxford, where he specialized in approaches to Egyptian and Western visual cultures, and integrated Egyptian material with work in social anthropology. He is currently a Research Associate in the Faculty of Classics and St John’s College at the University of Cambridge.

Dr Miller is now writing his first book on how Egyptian and Maya people conceptualized hieroglyphic writing, which he intends to complete at Cornell, in addition to teaching courses on ancient Egyptian language, literature, art and religion. He will also be collaborating with Oxford-based colleagues on a project on the global history of religion.

Harris Manchester has played a key role in Dr Miller’s career. He said: “Reading Egyptology at HMC was an extraordinary privilege. The College resources were fantastic, from the library collections to the grants which enabled me to travel to Egypt for fieldwork. Visiting the country is so important. You get a feel for the landscapes right down to the pesky insects, the smell of the Nile, and the way the morning sun grows from gentle to scorching in a matter of minutes. I still use photos from those trips in my lectures, and I’m so grateful HMC helped make them happen.”