Background
Mr. Miller was born on April 26, 1931, in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, United States. He is a son of Raymond K. (a miller and farmer) and Sarah (a homemaker; maiden name, Schaffnet) Miller.
anthropologist educator writer
Mr. Miller was born on April 26, 1931, in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, United States. He is a son of Raymond K. (a miller and farmer) and Sarah (a homemaker; maiden name, Schaffnet) Miller.
Elmer Miller received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Bible and Philosophy from Eastern Mennonite Seminary in 1954. Mr. Miller earned Bachelor of Theology from the same seminary in 1956. In 1964 he received his Master of Arts in Anthropology,after graduating from Hartford Seminary Foundation. In 1967 he finished University Pittsburgh with Doctor of Philosophy.
Between 1958 and 1963 Mr. Miller worked at Mennonite Board of Missions, Elkhart, IN, holding the post of a missionary. During 1966-1967 he acted at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, as an instructor. From 1967 till 1971 he was appointed assistant professor, associate professor, 1971-1980, professor of anthropology, 1980-1996, professor emeritus, starting from 1996, at the same university. In 1972-1975 he was a member of Mayor’s Science and Technology Advisory Council, City of Philadelphia. In 1975 he was appointed visiting professor at Universidade de Brasilia. In 1975 he became a member of field faculty at Goddard College.
Elmer S. Miller was a department head in 1970-1977, 1981-1982, director of University Abroad, Rome, Italy, in 1982-1985, associate dean of College of Arts and Sciences, 1986-1989, acting director of Institute for Languages and International Studies, 1988. During 1982-1985 Mr. Miller served as a supervisor of instructional tours of Italy and Greece. He conducted field work in Argentina and Paraguay, Inter-American Foundation. Since 1988 Mr. Miller has acted as a Chaco Indian researcher.
He was a contributor to books, including Ethical Dilemmas in Anthropological Inquiry: A Case Book, Culture and Ideology: Anthropological Perspectives, Lost Empires, Living Tribes. Also he was a contributor of more than thirty articles to academic journals, including Ethnology, Anthropological Quarterly, American Ethnologist, Latin American Research Review, South American Indian Studies, and World and I.
Quotations: "In the process of writing, I discovered that the notions of doubt and pilgrim that provided the thread for tile book also contained a lesson of interest to the general reader. I argue that, in the multicultural world in which we find ourselves, we must all become pilgrim-like in our approach to the myths and values of people we consider different from ourselves."
Elmer S. Miller married Anna Lois Longenecker on June 13, 1953. The couple has two children: Rosina Sue Miller-Gilroy, Lisa Lynn Miller-McCrone.