Miriam is interested in comparison, phenomenology, affect, and rhetoric between Indigenous religious traditions and the modern secular West. Her work has analyzed the religious elements of the return of human remains and cultural artifacts gathered in the colonial period from collecting institutions, focusing especially on claims between Germany and Australia. Her ethnographic work between German collecting institutions and Australian Aboriginal nations investigated the contemporary political, social, and religious claims and activities that inspire and result from repatriation. Her current work analyzes rhetoric, kinship, tradition, and the relationship between science and religion.
Ph.D. Religious Studies; University of California, Santa Barbara, in progress
M.A. Religious Studies; Leipzig University, 2023
B.A. Religious Studies with a minor in Art History; Occidental College, 2017
Office Hours Autumn 2026: Tuesday 11-1pm, Robertson Gymnasium 1000A