Fordham PhD Wins Distinguished Teaching Award

Danica Sterud Miller, PhD ‘13, is the 2018 recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Washington, Tacoma, where she is an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies.

The Distinguished Teaching Award recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates a mastery of their subject matter, engages diverse students both within and outside of the classroom, and strives for innovation in course design.  Dr. Miller’s pedagogy emphasizes the Coast Salish approach to learning where experience, storytelling, repetition and application are elevated as critical and credible ways of knowing.

Dr. Miller developed the Lushootseed Language Institute in partnership with the Puyallup Tribe, allowing students to engage with the their cultural heritage on ancestral land. Her teaching not only highlights an underrepresented field of study but engages students in a search for deeper understanding of how their lives relate to their own and other cultures.