
Professor of Political Science
A five-time Fulbright award recipient and author of a dozen solely authored books, Professor Miles teaches the undergraduate courses Comparative Politics, Religion and Politics, Music and Politics, and the Politics of Developing Nations; on the graduate level, courses on international development. A former Peace Corps Volunteer, Professor Miles is fluent in French, Hausa and Bislama and conversational in Creole/Kreol and Hebrew. Public radio, including NPR, has broadcast a dozen of his commentaries.
Project Websites:
African Borderlands Community Development (ABCD) South Pacific Puzzle: Coping with Independence Third World Views of the Holocaust- Stotsky Professor of Jewish Historical and Cultural Studies
- Israel Institute Research Grant
- National Jewish Book Award Finalist for Jews of Nigeria: An Afro-Judaic Odyssey, 2013.
- Quebec Studies Program research grant (Government of Québec, Ministry of International Relations and Francophonie). “Francophone Sephardim in Montreal: Institutional, Diplomatic, and Demographic Trends,” 2009-10.
- National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Research Stipend for electoral study of French Antilles, 2007.
- National Jewish Book Award Finalist for Zion in the Desert. American Jews in Israel’s Reform Kibbutzim, 2007.
- Earhart Foundation Fellowship for book research support on comparative colonialism, 2006.
- Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research grant (American Philosophical Society) for “Field Work in Upper Mekong,” 2005.
- Robert D. Klein Lecturer. “Rhythm ‘n Jews. The Musical Interplay Between Blacks and Jews in America.” Northeastern University, March 8, 2001.
- American Philosophical Society grant for research on “African Border Life at the Millennium,”awarded 2000.
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Center for Advanced Studies, nationally competitive Summer Seminar for Faculty, 2000.
- Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Fellowship for Africa (Mauritius), 1996-7.
- Academic Specialist Program, United States Information Agency, February 1992. Was featured speaker at American Studies Association of Nigeria conference on “Democracy, Nationalism, and National Integration.”
- Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Fellowship for the Pacific Islands (New Caledonia, Vanuatu), 1991.
- National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar for College Teachers, 1989.
- American Institute of Indian Studies Professional Development Grant, 1987-8.
- Fulbright Short-Term Research Grant for Nigeria, 1986.
- International Security Studies Research Grant (Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy), 1984.
- Fulbright Research Fellowship for Nigeria, 1983-4.
- Shell International Studies Research Fellowship, 1982-3.
- Edmund A. Gullion Prize (The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy), 1982.
- Fletcher School Fellowship, 1981-2.
- Fulbright-Hays French Government Teaching Assistantship for Martinique, 1980-1.
- Peabody Fellowship for International Studies, 1979-80.
- Phi Beta Kappa, elected 1977.
- U.S. Representative to International Bible Contest, Jerusalem, 1971.
- First Place Winner, National Bible Contest, 1970.
- Scars of Partition: Postcolonial Legacies in French and British Borderlands. University of Nebraska Press, 2014.
- Afro-Jewish Encounters From Timbuktu to the Indian Ocean and Beyond. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2014.
- Jews of Nigeria: An Afro-Judaic Odyssey. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2013. (Finalist for a 2013 National Jewish Book Award)
- My African Horse Problem. Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 2008.
- Zion in the Desert. American Jews in Israel’s Reform Kibbutzim. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2007. (Finalist for a 2007 National Jewish Book Award)
- Political Islam in West Africa. State-Society Relations Transformed. Boulder & London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2007
- Bridging Mental Boundaries in a Postcolonial Microcosm: Identity and Development in Vanuatu. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1998
- Imperial Burdens: Countercolonialism in Former French India. Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner, 1995
- Hausaland Divided: Colonialism and Independence in Nigeria and Niger. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1994 (ChoiceMagazine Outstanding Academic Book and Encyclopedia Brittanica Book of the Year distinction)
- Elections in Nigeria: A Grassroots Perspective. London: Lynne Rienner, 1988
- Elections and Ethnicity in French Martinique: A Paradox in Paradise. New York: Praeger, 1986
- “The Islamic State won’t find it easy to wipe out postcolonial borders.” The Washington Post
- “Taking Apart Boko Haram.” Cognoscenti (NPR)
- “Postcolonial Borderland Legacies of Anglo–French Partition in West Africa.” African Studies Review
- “Deploying Development to Counter Terrorism: Post-9/11 Transformation of U.S. Foreign Aid to Africa.” African Studies Review
- “Among the ‘Jubos’ on the Festival of Lights.” Transition 105 (2011).
- “Bulls, Goats, and Pedagogy: Engaging Students in Overseas Development Aid.” PS: Political Science and Politics 42 (2009)
- “A Used Book, A Lost Era.” The Chronicle of Higher Education (2013)
- “An Unquiet Sabbatical.” The Chronicle of Higher Education 55:20 (2009)
- “The Rabbi’s Well: A Case Study in the Micropolitics of Foreign Aid in Muslim West Africa.” African Studies Review 51:1 (2008)
- “Islamism in West Africa: Internal Dynamics and U.S. Responses.” The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 32:2 (2008)
- “Letter from Ouagadougou.” The Antioch Review 64:1 (2006)
- “The Niger We Should Know.” The Boston Globe (August 2005)
- “Hannuka in Niger” Hadassah Magazine, (December 2004)
Professional Activities
- National Public Radio Commentator
- “Horse Problem” (click on “Real Media”)
- “African Horse Lesson” (click on “Real Media”)
- “E-mails from Africa” (click on “Real Media”)
- “Faith and Compassion”
- “Race”
- “Kindness”
- “Trust”
- “Dropped G’s” (click on “Real Media”)
- Interview on Tell Me More with Michelle Martin
- Interview on Here and Now with Sacha Pfeiffer
- “Second Chances”
- “Cherished Mementos”
- Symposium Convenor
Videos
The following video is about Professor Miles’ most recent book, My African Horse Problem.
-
Education
PhD, 1983
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy -
Contact
617.373.3950 b.miles@northeastern.edu -
Address
929 Renaissance Park
360 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115