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Susan Katz Miller

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Susan Katz Miller is an author, journalist, and advocate for interfaith families often quoted as an expert. In 2013, Beacon Press published her book Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family.[1] Her book The Interfaith Family Journal was published by Skinner House in 2019.[2]

Early life

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Miller was born to William Katz and Martha Legg Katz in Boston in 1961. Her father was a chemical engineer from a German Jewish family. Her mother was a sculptor, and an Episcopalian of English, Irish, and Scottish descent. Miller and her three siblings were raised in Reform Judaism. She graduated from Brown University.[1]

Journalism

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Miller began her journalism career as a science reporter at Newsweek in New York, and spent time in the Los Angeles and Washington bureaus. She left Newsweek to move to Dakar, Senegal. While there, she wrote travel pieces for The New York Times,[3][4][5][6] and an interview with the President of Senegal for Newsweek International. She also wrote Christian Science Monitor pieces from Senegal, Benin, Togo, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone.[7][8][9][10]

After returning to the US, Miller became a US Correspondent for the British weekly magazine New Scientist.[11] She also wrote freelance science journalism pieces for Discover, Science,[12] National Wildlife, and other publications. Miller spent 1994-1997 reporting from Recife, Brazil, publishing articles in New Scientist, and The New York Times.[13][14]

Miller studied photography at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and her photographs have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, International Wildlife, and elsewhere.[15]

Interfaith Families Activism

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Miller served as Board Co-Chair of the Interfaith Families Project of Greater Washington DC. In 2009, she founded the first blog devoted to interfaith family communities and interfaith identity, onbeingboth.com.[16] She was also a blogger at Huffington Post Religion.[17] Her writing on interfaith families has appeared in The Washington Post[15], Time[18], Slate, Utne Reader[19], The Forward,[20] Jewcy.com, interfaithfamily.com, and many other publications.

Miller’s 2013 book, Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family,[1] is a chronicle of the grassroots movement of interfaith families claiming more than one religion. Library Journal called Being Both “cause for celebration.” Kirkus Reviews called it "an insightful examination."[21] Booklist called it "a fine resource."[22] The book caused controversy, especially after Miller published an Op-Ed in The New York Times defending families that educate children in both Judaism and Christianity.[23] Miller’s work is often cited in academic literature on interfaith families and multiple religious practice.[24][25][26][27] Her 2019 book The Interfaith Family Journal, is a workbook designed to support all interfaith families.[2]

As an interfaith families expert, Miller has appeared on The Today Show (NBC),[28] CBS, NPR (All Things Considered,[29] Here and Now,[30] and The Diane Rehm Show[31]), and on the PBS program Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, as well as in documentary films. Miller also wrote regularly for The (Jewish Daily) Forward‘s interfaith relationship advice column, The Seesaw.

As a speaker on interfaith families, Miller has appeared at the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly as the Sophia Fahs Keynote speaker, at the Parliament of the World’s Religions, The Wild Goose Festival, and at churches, synagogues, Jewish Community Centers, and universities.[32]

In 2015, Miller founded a national support group for families celebrating more than one religion, the Network of Interfaith Family Groups.[33]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Miller, Susan Katz (2013). Being both : embracing two religions in one interfaith family. Boston. ISBN 978-0-8070-1319-9. OCLC 826076598.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ a b Miller, Susan Katz (2019). The interfaith family journal. Boston. ISBN 978-1-55896-825-7. OCLC 1051693583.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Miller, Susan Katz (December 25, 1988). "WHAT'S DOING IN; Dakar". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  4. ^ Miller, Susan Katz (August 5, 1990). "FARE OF THE COUNTRY; Senegal's Spicy Noonday Feast". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  5. ^ Miller, Susan Katz (April 14, 1991). "SHOPPER'S WORLD; Colorful Beads of Trade in Senegal". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  6. ^ Miller, Susan Katz (November 25, 1990). "Close to the Wild in Senegal". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  7. ^ "Aid Officials, Refugees Say Mauritania is Expelling Citizens". Christian Science Monitor. June 27, 1989. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  8. ^ "Benin's Presidential Vote". Christian Science Monitor. March 21, 1991. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  9. ^ "'Nana Benz' Take to the Streets for Democratic Reforms". Christian Science Monitor. March 26, 1992. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  10. ^ "Sierra Leone Pushes Reform of Economy". Christian Science Monitor. March 8, 1990. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  11. ^ "Susan Katz Miller". New Scientist. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  12. ^ Miller, Susan Katz (November 13, 1992). "Asian-Americans Bump Against Glass Ceilings". Science. 258 (5085): 1224–1225. doi:10.1126/science.1439831. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 1439831.
  13. ^ Miller, Susan Katz (September 3, 1995). "BUSTLE AND BEACHES IN BRAZIL'S NORTH". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  14. ^ Miller, Susan Katz (February 2, 1997). "A Neighborhood Lives Again". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  15. ^ a b "When a tiny church houses three religions". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  16. ^ "Being Both". Being Both. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  17. ^ "Susan Katz Miller | HuffPost". www.huffpost.com. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  18. ^ Miller, Susan Katz (November 6, 2013). "The Case for Raising Your Child With Two Religions". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  19. ^ "Raising Interfaith Children – Utne". www.utne.com. November 13, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  20. ^ "Susan Katz Miller Archives". The Forward. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  21. ^ BEING BOTH | Kirkus Reviews.
  22. ^ Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family, by Susan Katz Miller | Booklist Online.
  23. ^ Miller, Susan Katz (November 1, 2013). "Opinion | Being 'Partly Jewish'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  24. ^ "Queering Multiple Religious Belonging". Feminist Studies in Religion. November 15, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  25. ^ Sigalow, Emily (December 2016). "Towards a Sociological Framework of Religious Syncretism in the United States". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 84 (4): 1029–1055. doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfw033. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  26. ^ Dziaczkowska, Magdalena (July 13, 2016). "Susan Katz Miller. Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family". Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations. 11 (1). doi:10.6017/scjr.v11i1.9467. ISSN 1930-3777.
  27. ^ Mercadante, Linda (January 26, 2017). "How Does it Fit? Multiple Religious Belonging, Spiritual but not Religious, and The Dances of Universal Peace". Open Theology. 3 (1): 10–18. doi:10.1515/opth-2017-0002. ISSN 2300-6579. S2CID 151808137.
  28. ^ "Interfaith families share how they make it work". TODAY.com. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  29. ^ "Interfaith Children". NPR.org. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  30. ^ "Raising Children In Two Faiths". www.wbur.org. December 2, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  31. ^ "Religious Traditions And Challenges For Interfaith Families". Diane Rehm. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  32. ^ "Events". Susan Katz Miller. September 13, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  33. ^ "Network of Interfaith Family Groups | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
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