Ian Miller working on 3D-photogrammetry of ancient African metallurgical crucibles at the OU Library, March 2019.
Ian Miller working on 3D-photogrammetry of ancient African metallurgical crucibles at the OU Library, March 2019.

Ian Miller (Class of 2023) is a double major in Anthropology and Economics…

Recent Awards and Accomplishments:

  • Digital Skills Student Fellowship recipient, University of Oklahoma Libraries, AY2020-2021.
  • Presentation at the Undergraduate Research Day, Spring 2020: Online paper presentation of research paper at the University of Oklahoma, Undergraduate Research Day, Spring 2020. Ian’s paper and presentation won an Honors College Award for Honorable Mention at OU’s 2020 Online Undergraduate Research Day.
  • Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) grant award: Spring 2020. Deferred to Fall 2020 due to COVID-19.
  • Undergraduate Researc Day award photo pictureng Ian Miller, Awardee, and Dr. Thomas R. Fenn, mentor.
  • Presentation at the Undergraduate Research Day, Spring 2019: Oral presentation of research paper at the University of Oklahoma, Undergraduate Research Day, Spring 2019. Ian’s paper and presentation won the Honors College Award for Most Outstanding Project Grand Prize at OU’s 2019 Undergraduate Research Day.
  • Ian Miller at Undergraduate Research Day, Spring 2019, presenting research. Ian Miller at Undergraduate Research Day, Spring 2019, presenting research.
  • Ian Miller in Undergraduate Research Day, Spring 2019, group photo of Anthropology students who presented research. Ian Miller in Undergraduate Research Day, Spring 2019, group photo of Anthropology students who presented research and their faculty mentors.
  • Ian Miller, Undergraduate Research Day Award, April 18, 2019
  • Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) grant award: Spring 2019. Mr. Ian Miller (1st year OU Undergraduate Student), in collaboration with Dr. Thomas R. Fenn (Dept. Anthropology), has been awarded an OU Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) grant.  Ian, who has been working with Dr. Fenn during the Spring semester 2019, will continue this work and collaboration in the Fall and Spring of the 2019-2020 academic year and use the UROP grant during that time.
    • Research Proposal Abstract: The award will fund research examining ancient metallurgical remains from the archaeological site of Marandet (Niger), dating from ca. AD 600-1400, which played a key role in Trans-Saharan trade networks.  Copper metals were in high demand in sub-Saharan West Africa during this time; they were used as a medium of exchange, a material resource, and as wearable adornments.  Since copper was so important to this West African trade, studying the ancient copper metallurgical remains from Marandet will provide new and insightful information about the regions that traded these metals and the structure and interaction of these ancient economies.  This research, building on previous work by Dr. Fenn, seeks to better understand the movement of goods, technologies and ideas across the Sahara to and within sub-Saharan West Africa.  This project crosses disciplinary lines by employing scientific methods to explore anthropological and humanistic questions about past societies in West Africa.