Alexis Miller
Dr. Alexis Miller is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice. She received her Bachelor of Science and Master's Degree in criminal justice from the University of Louisville. Her Ph.D. was also from the University of Louisville in Urban and Public Affairs.
Dr. Miller spent eight years teaching in Tennessee before coming to NKU in 2008. Her research interests include hate crimes, prisoners' rights, criminal justice students, the juvenile death penalty, crime and the media and institutional corrections. She has taught a range of courses, including Introduction to Corrections and Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Ethics, Women and Crime, Criminal Theory and Multiculturalism and Hate Crimes.
Currently, she has 14 publications covering topics ranging from crime and the media to criminal justice students' perceptions of hate crimes. Her most recent publication is "The Ultimate Sanction for Juvenile Offenders" in Benekos and Merlo's Controversies in Juvenile Justice and Delinquency. In that publication, she addresses the end of the death penalty for juveniles in the United States.
Dr. Miller is also the president of the Southern Criminal Justice Association, a regional affiliate of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences national organization.
When asked what she likes most about her faculty position, Dr. Miller replied:
"Being a new faculty member at Northern Kentucky University this fall, I am still learning about the department, college and university. But, what I am sure I like most so far is the faculty in the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice. One of the greatest fears I had leaving my former university after being there so long was not knowing if I would enjoy working with my new colleagues like I enjoyed working with my previous ones. I am very happy to say that coming here has been a wonderful experience, both academically and personally. Faculty members have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome and included. While the department at NKU is much larger than my previous department, the personal dynamics are still the same. The people are great, and I'm looking forward to working with them in the upcoming years."
Dr. Miller said one reason she came to NKU is the students it serves:
"I have found that students at regional universities have typically made a greater financial and more difficult personal choice to come to college as opposed to many students at flagship universities who seem to be there because of family pressure or tradition. When I went to college initially I, too, had made this conscious choice to attend which required financial sacrifice and personal commitment. I much prefer to work with students who have made those difficult choices to get an education than those whose attendance means more to their families than to them."