Assistant Professor of Religion Studies and Africana Studies, Monica R. MIller, has been named the new program Director of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies effective July 1. Miller holds research interests in religion in youth culture, popular culture, identity and difference, new black religious movements and theory and method in the study of religion. She earned her Ph.D. in Theology, Ethics, and Human Science from Chicago Theological Seminary (2010), M.T.S. from Drew Theological School (2006) and B.A. in Religious Studies from Fordham University (2004). Among a host of articles and book chapters, Miller is the author of Religion and Hip Hop (Routledge, 2012). Miller currently serves as a Senior Research Fellow with The Institute for Humanist Studies (Washington, DC), is Co-Chair and founder of Critical Approaches to the Study of Hip Hop and Religion Group (American Academy of Religion), Principal Investigator of “Remaking Religion” which examines changing patterns of religion and irreligion in youth culture in Portland, Oregon, member of the Culture on the Edge scholarly collective (University of Alabama), contributing editor of The Marginalia Review of books in history, theology, and religion, and editorial board member of The Journal of Hip Hop Studies . Miller is co-author of forthcoming volumes, Religion in Hip Hop: Mapping the New Terrain with Anthony B. Pinn and rapper Bernard "Bun B" Freeman (Bloomsbury Press), in addition to Claiming Identity in the Study of Religion (Equinox, 2014) and The Religion and Hip Hop Reader with Anthony B. Pinn (Routledge). Her work has been featured in a host of regional and national print, radio, live video, and TV news outlets including NPR, The Washington Post, The Oregonian, The Root, Left of Black, and Huffington Post Live. She has presented her research at colleges, universities, and conferences throughout the U.S., Cuba and Canada. Miller writes for Huffington Post, BET.com, and the Culture on the Edge Scholarly Collective. She maintains a website at http://www.religionandhiphop.com and can be found on Twitter @religionhiphop.