Ph.D. Candidate, Global Urban Studies
M.A. Rutgers University, Political Science
B.A., cum laude Brooklyn College, Africana Studies and Political Science
Hyacinth Miller is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Africana Studies and Political Science at Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences–Newark. She also holds a concurrent appointment as a Lecturer in the Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies at Rutgers–New Brunswick. She also serves as the director of the public service leadership program for the Sheila Y. Oliver Center for Politics and Race in America at Rutgers-Newark.
A political scientist with an interdisciplinary approach, Professor Miller’s research centers on Black women’s political leadership, Caribbean political development, and Black immigrant political incorporation. Her current work examines the political engagement of Black women in elected office, both within the United States and internationally, focusing on campaign emergence, strategy, and the implications of electoral success for surrogate representation. Her ongoing research project, The Garden State's Black Politics, investigates Black women's political trajectories and influence in elected office across New Jersey.
This scholarship is part of a broader research agenda that critically explores the intersections of civic engagement, political representation, and policy responses to the needs of Global Africa. Professor Miller is also a co-founder of the Rutgers University Atlantic Reparatory Justice Research Lab, where she examines CARICOM's contemporary calls for reparations and the evolving political and legal responses to demands for redress.
Before joining Rutgers, Professor Miller built a public policy and advocacy career, with expertise spanning government affairs, immigration, criminal justice reform, nonprofit leadership, and institutional development. She has held roles with the U.S. House of Representatives, the New York City Council, the New York State Assembly, the Association of Paroling Authorities International, and the JEHT Foundation.