Dr. Alyssa Miller

Short CV

Since 11/2021: Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies; Scientific Coordinator for IFG on Identities and Beliefs, MECAM project (in Tunisia)
2020 - 2021: Visiting Lecturer, Scripps College, Claremont, CA, USA
2019 - 2020: Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Wolf Humanities Center, University of Pennsylvania
Education: PhD in Cultural Anthropology, Duke University; M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas at Austin; CASA Fellow, American University in Cairo

Current Research

Religion and National Identity
Marginalization and Social Inequality
Borderlands
Transitional Justice
Kinship and Ambiguous Loss

Countries and Regions

Middle East
Tunisia

Research Programmes

Accountability and Participation

Dr. Alyssa Miller

Research Fellow

[email protected]

Chapter in Edited Volume | 01/2023

The Violence of Endurance: Youth Precarity and Social Justice in Inner Tunisia

Focusing on the governorate of Kasserine in the wake of the 2016 uprising as a paradigmatic example, this chapter describes the peripatetic trajectories of youth through informal labor, hyper-exploitation, and protest.

Dr. Alyssa Miller

Research Fellow

#MECAM #IdentitiesAndBeliefs | 06/2022

Touche pas à ma UGTT: The Syndical Movement as a ‘Secular Sacred’ Value

Dr. Alyssa Miller

Research Fellow

#MECAM #Indentities and Beliefs | 06/2022

The UGTT: A “Counter-Power” in Contentious Times – Notes from the Field

Introductory essay for #MECAM #Identities&Beliefs series on the UGTT.

Dr. Alyssa Miller

Research Fellow

Arbia Selmi

Centre Marc Bloch e.V.

Anthropology Now | 12/2021

Tunisian Cinema after the Arab Spring: Portrait of a Nation in Transition

Dr. Alyssa Miller

Research Fellow

Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East | 08/2021

"I Do Not Forgive!": Hope and Refusal in Tunisia's Democratic Transition

Dr. Alyssa Miller

Research Fellow

Research Project | 01/11/2022 - 31/12/2024

Kinship and the Affective Politics of Citizenship in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia

This project examines the politics of kin-work performed by families of Tunisian ex-combatants, a form of affective labor that sustains care relations for kin who have migrated to regional sites of jihad. In a hostile public sphere where the jihadi denotes a monstrous form of life, any political advocacy for ex-combatants requires first recovering their humanity. Drawing on street protests, TV talk shows, and other cultural forms, I show how kinship claims reinforce citizenship rights under the Global War on Terror.
AvH, 2022-2024

Research Project | 01/04/2020 - 31/03/2023

Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM): Imagining Futures - Dealing with Disparity, Phase I

The "Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb" (MECAM), founded in 2020, is a platform for regional and international scientific exchange in Tunisia based on the central theme "Imagining Futures - Dealing with Disparity". The centre is located at the renowned Université de Tunis in the Tunisian capital. Its research work focuses on the effects of multidimensional disparity on models, visions and ideas about political, social, economic, and cultural futures.
BMFTR, 2020-2023

Deutsche Welle | Quote | 20/05/2022

Tunisia protesters unite for democracy ⁠— but is it enough?

Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Hamburg | 06/05/2025

Circumscribed Solidarities? Political friction and Competing Ways of Life in a Tunisian Psychotherapy Clinic

Organiser: Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Hamburg, University of Hamburg Dr. Alyssa Miller (Speaker)

Recent theories of solidarity view difference positively, showing how diversity can add strength to solidarity movements. Nevertheless, solidarity usually describes people who share political goals or values. Can we still speak of solidarity when politics do not align?

Dr. Alyssa Miller

Research Fellow

Workshop | 02/05/2023 - 03/05/2023

Women, Men, and Children in Syrian Camps and Prisons

Women, Men, and Children in Syrian Camps and Prisons, Radboud University, Nijmegen Dr. Alyssa Miller (Panelist)

Presentation during the roundtable on "Possibilities for Solidarity and Talking Back"

Dr. Alyssa Miller

Research Fellow

Conference | 17/03/2023 - 19/03/2023

Kinship and the Affective Politics of Citizenship in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia

Imagining Futures - Dealing with Disparities , Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM), Tunis Organisers: Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb Dr. Alyssa Miller (Speaker)

Dr. Alyssa Miller

Research Fellow

Teaching | GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies | Accountability and Participation | GIGA Doctoral Programme | 2022

Interdisciplinarity in Practice: The Venture of MECAM

GIGA Doctoral Programme

Short CV

Since 11/2021: Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies; Scientific Coordinator for IFG on Identities and Beliefs, MECAM project (in Tunisia)
2020 - 2021: Visiting Lecturer, Scripps College, Claremont, CA, USA
2019 - 2020: Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Wolf Humanities Center, University of Pennsylvania
Education: PhD in Cultural Anthropology, Duke University; M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas at Austin; CASA Fellow, American University in Cairo