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Jonson Miller, Ph.D.

Assistant Teaching Professor of History; Drexel Center for Academic Excellence Teaching Fellow

Jonson Miller

Office: 5022 MacAlister
Phone: (215) 895-0994
Email: jonson.w.miller@drexel.edu

Curriculum Vitae: Download

Education

  • B.S., Geology, West Virginia University, 1998
  • M.S., Geology, University of Wisconsin, 2000
  • Ph.D., Science and Technology in Society, Virginia Tech, 2008

Biography

I study the history of American engineering, industrialization, and technology. My first major project focused on the emergence of an engineering professional culture in antebellum Virginia in relation to cultural, economic, and political changes in Virginia and the United States. I am more broadly interested in social transformations resulting from industrialization. Of particular interest to me are the deleterious effects of the rationalization of people's lives, the economy, and institutions in an industrial society. An additional interest of mine is how American conceptions of freedom have changed over time.

Some of my favorite books on industrialization and rationality:

  • Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams
  • Paul Gottfried, After Liberalism
  • Friedrich Georg Jünger, The Perfection of Technology
  • David Nye, America as Second Creation
  • Oswald Spengler, Man and Technics

Courses Taught

  • HIST 201: US History to 1815
  • HIST 202: US History from 1815 to 1900
  • HIST 203: US History since 1900
  • HIST 230: US Military History I
  • HIST 231: US Military History II
  • HIST 285: Technology in Historical Context
  • HIST 591: Themes in the History of Technology

Publications

  • Gary Lee Downey, Juan C. Lucena, Barbara Moskal, Thomas Bigley, Chris Hays, Brent Jesiek, Liam Kelly, Jane Lehr, Jonson Miller, Amy Nichols- Belo, Sharon Ruff, and Rosamond Parkhurst. “The Globally Competent Engineer: Working Effectively with People Who Define Problems Differently.” Journal of Engineering Education 95 (April 2006): 107-122
  • Gary Lee Downey, Juan C. Lucena, Barbara Moskal, Thomas Bigley, Chris Hays, Brent Jesiek, Liam Kelly, Jane Lehr, Jonson Miller, and Amy Nichols-Belo. “Engineering Cultures: Expanding the Engineering Method for Global Problem Solvers.” Proceedings of the 4th ASEE/AaeE Global Colloquium on Engineering Education, Sydney Australia, September 26-30, 2005.