Employee photo: Anna CohenMiller

Anna CohenMiller

Professor
Department of Academic and Student Affairs
Email
anna.cohenmiller@nord.no
Phone
+4775517961
Study location
Bodø
Office
Bodø, Administrasjonsbygg 3.ETG
Areas of expertise
research methods, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, educational leadership, qualitative research, arts-based research, organizational culture, transformative leadership, visual arts, popular culture and pedagogy, gender equity

Professor Anna CohenMiller, PhD, is a multinational scholar, TEDx speaker and multi-award-winning qualitative methodologist and educational leader who uses transformational research and leadership to address issues of equity and inclusion in higher education internationally. Focusing on empowering early career researchers and demystifying research, CohenMiller emphasizes mentoring and publishing accessible work and multimedia texts guiding and encouraging justice-centered best practices in research, pedagogy and organizational culture. She specializes in arts-based research to facilitate and amplify voice of marginalized, overlooked/misheard, and colonized communities, such as her work in Central Asia and in Southeast Asia.


CohenMiller's recent award-winning books include a Knowledge Foundation open-access award for her edited book, Leading Change in Gender and Diversity in Higher Education from Margins to Mainstream, and a American Educational Research Association (AERA) award for Outstanding Book for Questions in Qualitative Social Justice Research in Multicultural Contexts (with N. Boivin). Her forthcoming book with Routledge, Transformative Moments in Qualitative Research: Method, Theory, and Reflection, has been referred to as a “must read” for all qualitative researchers committed to enhancing justice in practice.


Since joining Nord University, she is actively involved in coordinating and promoting research and education across disciplinary lines, including with various projects, such as grant-funded research, Horizon Europe (d@rts), SEA-EU, Nord Master's Plus, and Bodø2024.


She welcomes ideas for collaboration, research and practice!

Expertise in developing courses, classes and workshops around justice-oriented qualitative research methods, arts-based and innovative research methods, and cultural contexts of education

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

^ = mentorship of early career scholars

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PkfJgj0AAAAJ&hl=en (approx. 700 citations, h-index: 16, as of Mar 2024)


MONOGRAPH - BOOKS

  • CohenMiller, A., & Grace, K. (forthcoming). Justice-Centered Mixed Methods. Guilford Press.
  • CohenMiller, A. S. (2024). Transformative Moments in Qualitative Research: Method, Theory and Reflection. Routledge. (link)
  • ^CohenMiller, A. S. & Boivin, N. (2021). Questions in Qualitative Social Justice Research in Multicultural Contexts. Routledge. (link)


EDITED BOOKS


PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES

  • ^CohenMiller, A., & Dikanchieva, L. (forthcoming). Hope, and the unsaid: Collaborative practice, artistic interpretation, and a decolonial response to living in and through war. Special issue: Ukraine, a decolonizing global response: Call to action for coalition building through inclusive inquiry and practices. Critical Studies ← → Critical Methodologies.


  • ^CohenMiller, A., Izekenova, Z., & Tabaeva, A. (2022). Graduate student mothers and issues of justice: Steps, challenges, and benefits of a systematic review for examining Master’s Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. The Qualitative Report, 27(10), 2380-2403. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5137 - open access


  • ^Saniyazova, A., CohenMiller, A., Kadylova, A., & Rakisheva, A. (2022). Gendered aspects of undergraduate student experience in the time of COVID-19: A case study of Nazarbayev University. European Education.


  • ^Oralbayeva, N., Amirova, A., CohenMiller, A., & Sandygulova, A. (2022). Cognitive Learning and robotics: Innovative teaching for inclusivity. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction. https://www.mdpi.com/2414-4088/6/8/65/htm - open access



  • ^CohenMiller, A., & Izekenova, Z. (2022). Motherhood in academia during the COVID-19 pandemic: An international online photovoice study addressing equity and inclusion in higher education. Innovative Higher Education, 47, 813–835. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10755-022-09605-w (Highlighted in the Nature Public Health Emergency Collection journal)


  • ^CohenMiller, A., Demers, D., Schnackenberg, H., & Izekenova, Z. (2022) “You are seen; you matter:” Applying the theory of Gendered organizations to equity and inclusion for motherscholars in higher education. Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education, 15(1), 87-109. https://doi.org/10.1080/26379112.2022.2025816


  • ^CohenMiller, A., Durrani, N., Kataeva, Z., & Makhmetova, Z. (2022) Conducting focus groups in multicultural educational contexts: Lessons learned and methodological insights. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221076928 - open access


  • CohenMiller, A. (2020). Spiraling. Academic Motherhood and COVID-19. Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement. 11(2), 9-20. https://jarm.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jarm/issue/view/2317 (invited for republication in a multiple series for InsideHigherEd; reposted in the Committee on Gender Equality and Diversity articles of global interest, University of Hong Kong, link) - open access


  • CohenMiller, A. S., Demers, D., & Schnackenberg, H. (2020). Rigid flexibility in research: Seeing the opportunities in “failed” qualitative research. Special issue: Qualitative and Mixed Methods Failures, B. Sousa & A. Clark (Eds). International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, 1-6. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1609406920963782 - open access


  • ^Zhexenova, Z., Amirova, A., Abdikarimova, M., Kudaibergenov, K., Baimakhan, N., Tleubayev, B., Asselborn, T., Johal, W., Dillenbourg, P., CohenMiller, A., & Sandygulova, A. (2020). A comparison of social robot to tablet and teacher in a new script learning context. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, Section Robot Assisted Education, Human-Robot Interaction. (Authorship in reverse order of primary involvement; top 5 journal internationally for downloads). https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2020.00099/abstract - open access



  • ^CohenMiller, A. S., Smat, N., Yenikeyeva, A., & Yassinova, K. (2020). Analyzing social media with a gender audit: Pedagogy and practice in the qualitative research classroom. The Qualitative Report, 25(5). https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol25/iss5/4/ -open access



  • CohenMiller, A. S., Koo, S., Collins, N., & Lewis, J. (2020). EXPOsing gender in science: A visual analysis with lessons for gender awareness and science diplomacy. Gender, Technology and Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/09718524.2019.1695519


  • Ajodhia, A. & CohenMiller, A. (2019). Can arts-informed pedagogy facilitate communities of learning and belonging for minoritised early years children? An integrative review of research. International Journal of Early Years Education. doi: 10.1080/09669760.2019.1685467



  • CohenMiller, A. S. & Miller, M. (2019) Resources for online teaching in the sciences: A multistage search and classification of open video repositories (OVR). College Teaching. doi: 10.1080/87567555.2019.1650704 - open access



  • CohenMiller, A. S. & Pate, E. (2019). A model for developing interdisciplinary research and theoretical frameworks. The Qualitative Report, 24(6). https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol24/iss6/2/ (Q1 as of March 2021) - open access


  • ^CohenMiller, A. S., Sagitova, R. Ogay, S., Tselenko, Y., Shakhmanova, A., Saburova, A. (2019). What is a family-friendly campus? An exploratory study to develop student research and provide practical results. American Journal of Qualitative Research. http://www.ejecs.org/index.php/AJQR/article/view/170 - open access


  • CohenMiller, A. S. (2018). Creating a participatory arts-based online focus group: Highlighting the transition from DocMama to Motherscholar. The Qualitative Report, 23(7), 1720-1735. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2018.2895 - open access


  • Boivin, N., & CohenMiller, A. S. (2018). Breaking the “fourth wall” in qualitative research: Participant-led digital data construction. The Qualitative Report, 23(3), 581-592. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol23/iss3/6 - open access




  • ^Gimranova, A., Nurmanova, M. & CohenMiller, A. S. (2018). Texting and language learning: WhatsApp group chats and Near Peer Role Modeling (NPRM). LEARNing Landscapes: Special Issue: Teaching with Technology: Pedagogical Possibilities and Practicalities, 11(1), 121-135. http://www.learninglandscapes.ca/index.php/learnland/article/view/927 - open access


  • CohenMiller, A. S., Faucher, C., Hernández-Torrano, D., & Brown Hajdukova, E. (2017). Practical steps for using interdisciplinary educational research to enhance cultural awareness. International Journal of Research & Method in Education. Special Issue: Adoption, Adaptation, and Integration: Renegotiating the Identity of Educational Research through Interdisciplinarity, 40(3), 288-298 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1743727X.2017.1310834


  • CohenMiller, A. S. (2016). Artful research approaches in #amwritingwithbaby: Qualitative analysis of academic mothers on Facebook. LEARNING Landscapes, 9(2) Special Issue, Artful Inquiry: Transforming Understanding Through Creative Engagement, 9(2), 181-196. https://doi.org/10.36510/learnland.v9i2.770 - open access



  • CohenMiller, A. S. (2012). Interdisciplinary projects emerging naturally: Reflection from a doctoral student’s first American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) conference. Adult Learning, 23(4), 196-200. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ981524


  • CohenMiller, A. S. (2008). Stealth Language Teaching: A preschool foreign language pilot program. Practicing Anthropology, 30(1), 50-53.


REGIONAL JOURNALS

  • CohenMiller, A. (2022). Innovating online research for equity, inclusion and social justice during the pandemic. NORAGG (Network for international policies and cooperation in education and training). Special Issue: States of Emergency: Education in the TIme of COVID-19.


  • Shamatov, D. & CohenMiller, A. S. (2020). Webinars as effective tools for online learning: Session by Andy Hargreaves. Pedagogical Dialogue, 32(2), 49-55.


  • ^Smat, N., Aikenova, A., Yelibay, M., Fillipova, L., Rakisheva, A., Kaveshev, Z., & CohenMiller, A. S. (2018). Thinking “Outside the Box” in Innovating Higher Education in the Age of Disruption: A Review of the Eurasian Higher Education Leaders Forum (EHELF) 2018. The Higher School of Kazakhstan. A publication of The Centre for Bologna Process and Academic Mobility.


  • CohenMiller, A. S., Merrill, M., & Shamatov, D. (2018). Effective teaching strategies for higher education: A brief overview. Teacher professional development – basis of education system reform. Pedagogical Dialogue, 1(23), 38-52.


CHAPTERS

  • (invited) CohenMiller, A., Saniyazova, A., & Rasmussen, K. (forthcoming). Selected instructional learning theories. In S. Wa-Mbaleka, et al. (Eds.). The SAGE Handbook of Higher Education Instructional Design.



  • (invited) CohenMiller, A. (2024). The Story of being Square (in/out of academia): Applying feminist creative method and practice. In C. Hughes, M. Salazar Pérez, C. Taylor, & J. Ulmer (Eds.) Doing transdisciplinary feminist research: Re-working theory method and practice. Routledge. (link)


  • (invited) ^Henkin, R., de Silva, A., CohenMiller, A., Alimzhanova, D. & Zhakupova, A. (2024). Cuentos: Uncovering global portraits of equity, justice and anti-racist teaching. In H. Smith & K. Iyengar (Eds.) Multilingual Language Arts for Multicultural Classrooms, Kendall Hunt Publishing. (link)


  • (invited) CohenMiller, A. (2023). ​​Empowering qualitative social justice researchers and communities in multicultural contexts. In D. Court, R. Abbas, Z. Kamal, & R. Abu Much (Eds.) Social Justice in Multicultural Contexts. Cambridge Scholars Publishers. (link)


  • (Invited) ^Khamitova, A. & CohenMiller, A. (2023). Designing online instructional materials. In Wa-Mbaleka, S. (Ed.) The SAGE Handbook of Online Education. Sage. (link)



  • (Invited) Boivin, N. & CohenMiller, A. S. (2022). Inclusion and equity during COVID with multimodality. In D. Vyortkina, N. Collins, & T. Raegan (Eds.) Keep Calm, Teach On: Education Responding to COVID-19, IGI Global. (link)


  • CohenMiller, A., & Leveto, J. (2022). Centering voices of motherscholars during the COVID-19 pandemic shows overwhelming responsibilities, ingrained gender roles, and blurred boundaries. In A. CohenMiller, T. Hinton-Smith, F. Mazanderani, & N. Samuel (Eds.) Leading Change in Gender and Diversity in Higher Education from Margins to Mainstream. Routledge. (link)


  • Hinton-Smith, T., Mazanderani, F. CohenMiller, A., & Samuel, N. (2022). Co-creating cross-cultural approaches to gender mainstreaming: experiences and challenges in developing an interdisciplinary, international feminist knowledge-exchange research approach. In A. CohenMiller, T. Hinton-Smith, F. Mazanderani, & N. Samuel (Eds.). Leading Change in Gender and Diversity in Higher Education from Margins to Mainstream. Routledge. (link)


  • (Invited) ^CohenMiller, A., Saban, G. A., & Bayeta, R. (2022). Rigor in qualitative research in the Asian context. In Wa-Mbaleka, S., Rosales, A, & Tolich, M. (Ch. 23). The SAGE Handbook for Qualitative Research in the Asian Context, (pp. 327-344). SAGE. (link)



  • ^Sandygulova, A., CohenMiller, A. S., Oralbayeva, N., Johal, W., Asselborn, T., Dillenbourg, P. (2020). Cognitive Learning with a Robot: The Case of Script Acquisition. Software Engineering and Formal Methods, SEFM 2019 Collocated Workshops: CoSim-CPS, ASYDE, CIFMA, and FOCLASA, Oslo, Norway, September 16–20, 2019, Revised Selected Papers. 10.1007/978-3-030-57506-9_12



  • (Invited) *CohenMiller, A. S. (2019). Texting with students: Facilitating learning in higher education. In H. Schnackenberg & C. Johnson (Eds.) Preparing the Higher Education Space for Gen Z. IGI Global. 167-186. doi: 10.4018/978-1-5225-7763-8.ch009



CASE STUDIES VIDEOS & TEXTS






  • CohenMiller, A. & Lewis, J. (2022). Developing institutional and community awareness to the legitimacy and visibilityDOI gendered topics, research, and partnerships. In Kitchener, M. (Ed). Handbook for Creation of Gender Sensitive Teaching-Learning. Available from: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/ocsld/publications/. (funded by Horizon2020).


  • Hinton-Smith, T., Aiyelaagbe, O. CohenMiller, A., Kahime, K., Samuel, N., Haeri Mazanderani, F., Rakisheva, A., Shurweryimana, F., Srinivasan, S., Uko, I. (2022). In Kitchener, M. (Ed). Gender on the Higher Education Learning Agenda Internationally: Co-Constructing Foundations for Equitable Futures. Handbook for the Promotion of Gender Sensitive Curriculum: Teaching and Learning Strategies. Available from: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/ocsld/publications/. (funded by Horizon2020).



  • Lewis, J. & CohenMiller, A. (2022). Gender audit as pedagogical tool. In Kitchener, M. (Ed). Handbook for the Promotion of Gender Sensitive Curriculum: Teaching and Learning Strategies. Available from: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/ocsld/publications/. (funded by Horizon2020).


BIBLIOGRAPHIC / ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES

(invited). CohenMiller, A. & Leveto, J. (2024). Motherscholars. Oxford Bibliographies (“peer-reviewed resource authored by top scholars”).


KEYNOTES & PLENARIES

  • CohenMiller, A. (2025, expected). Qualitative research for the social, economic and environmental good (tentative title). 8th Annual Asian Qualitative Research Association Conference (AQRA). The Philippines.


  • CohenMiller, A. (2024). Embracing the 4Cs in gender research: How to remove the illusion of perfection through Compassion, Community, Care, and Collaboration. International Conference on Contemporary Women’s Studies. 7-8 Mar. Turkey.




  • CohenMiller, A. (2022, June). Empowering qualitative social justice researchers and communities in multicultural contexts. International Social Justice in Multicultural Cultural Settings Conference. Arab Academic College, Haifa, Israel. https://sjms2022.arabcol.net/sjms2022arabcol/


  • CohenMiller, A. (2022, March 1-3). Enhancing gender-based research with qualitative social justice research. 13th Women's Leadership and Empowerment Conference [WLEC2022]. https://www.wleconference.org


  • CohenMiller, A. (2022, Jan 26-28). How equity and inclusion can make us “better” qualitative researchers. 6th World Conference on Qualitative Research (WCQR). https://wcqr.ludomedia.org


  • CohenMiller, A. (2021, Oct). How can I become a “better” qualitative researcher? (The role of critical self-reflection in qualitative social justice research). 6th Annual Asian Qualitative Research Association Annual Conference (AQRA) - virtual.



  • CohenMiller, A. (2021, Apr). Designing and implementing inclusive research in educational contexts. 3rd Annual Conference on Teachers’ Practice. NIS Conference. Semey, Kazakhstan.


ARTS-BASED PROJECTS

  • Community-based organization arts-based identity development (2023). Asocación Cultural Luna Andalusí, Alozaina (Malaga), Spain. Short-listed.


  • Artist Residency in Motherhood studies, virtual. An online community of artist mothers incorporating research and practice. The work emphasizes the integration of motherhood and mothering with scholarship – “motherscholar” - visual representation and community sharing.


  • Beyond Work/Life Balance: A Photovoice Study of Motherscholars in a Global Crisis (link, 2020-2021) was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic (from May-July 2020) with those who identify as mothers and academics (referred to as “motherscholars”). The study sought to understand first-hand what motherscholars were facing during those first few months of the pandemic, moving beyond experiences to identify structural issues and hidden obstacles faced. (with Izekenova, Z.)


  • The Motherscholar Project (link) (2015-ongoing) is a visual advocacy representation of mothers in academia as self-identified. It highlights those who identify as mothers and scholars from around the globe taking an important step toward revealing an invisible and marginalized community in the academic pipeline.
2024
Sage Research Methods: Diversifying and Decolonizing Research 2024, Sage Publications: CohenMiller, Anna
Collaborative mixed methods autoethnography: Moving from unaware and unsure to centering justice in land acknowledgments in higher education spaces 2024, Journal of Mixed Methods Studies: CohenMiller, Anna; Ness, Tove Synnøve Mentsen; Martin, Rosemary Kate
Healing inquiry: Collaborative practice, artistic interpretation, and a decolonial response to living in and through war 2024, Cultural Studies - Critical Methodologies: CohenMiller, Anna; Dikanchieya, Lana
2023
Leading Change in Gender and Diversity in Higher Education from Margins to Mainstream 2023, Taylor & Francis: CohenMiller, Anna; Hinton-Smith, Tamsin; Haeri Mazanderani,, Fawzia; Samuel, Nupur
Disentangling the intersection of inequities with health and malaria exposure: key lessons from rural communities in Northern Borneo 2023, Malaria Journal: Volum 22 Naserrudin, Nurul Athirah; Lin, Pauline Yong Pau; Monroe, April; Baumann, Sara Elizabeth; Adhikari, Bipin; CohenMiller, Anna
2022
Graduate student mothers and issues of justice: Steps, challenges, and benefits of a systematic review for examining Master’s Theses and Doctoral Dissertation 2022, The Qualitative Report (TQR): Volum 27 s. 2380-2403 CohenMiller, Anna; Izekenova, Zhanna; Tabaeva, Almira
Questions in Qualitative Social Justice Research in Multicultural Contexts 2022, Routledge: CohenMiller, Anna; Boivin, Nettie
2024
Online body mapping? Experimenting with innovating the justice-centered arts-based approach 2024, CohenMiller, Anna; Rakisheva, Aigul
Ukraine, a Decolonizing Global Response: Call to Action for Coalition Building through Inclusive Inquiry and Practice 2024, Cultural Studies - Critical Methodologies: CohenMiller, Anna; Boivin, Nettie
2023
The Illusion of Perfection, Compassion, Community and Care in Research and Teaching in Higher Education 2023, CohenMiller, Anna
How to change the world? Learn about yourself 2023, CohenMiller, Anna
Designing online instructional materials 2023, Khamitova, Aiman; CohenMiller, Anna
Addressing "failure" (and adaptation) in qualitative research 2023, CohenMiller, Anna
Contemplative inquiry in qualitative research: Understanding critical self-reflection as inquiry and teaching and learning tool 2023, CohenMiller, Anna
Enhancing quality and rigor in qualitative inquiry with critical self-reflection 2023, CohenMiller, Anna
Empowering qualitative social justice researchers and communities in multicultural context 2023, CohenMiller, Anna
Asynchronous practices of photovoice 2023, CohenMiller, Anna
Cultivating the Futures of Popular Culture and Pedagogy: A Celebration and Critical Examination of 10 Years of Dialogue 2023, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy: Volum 10 CohenMiller, Anna; Vado, Karina; Bippert, Kelli
Challenging Conventions: Provoking Thought with Engaged Teaching and Learning in Popular Culture 2023, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy: Volum 10 CohenMiller, Anna; Vado, Karina; Perez, Barbara; Sheldon, Tyler
The Power of Books in Popular Culture and Pedagogy 2023, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy: Volum 10 CohenMiller, Anna; Vado, Karina
Transformative Moments in Qualitative Research: Method, Theory and Reflection 2023, Taylor & Francis: CohenMiller, Anna
Uncovering Deeper Realities: A Journey into Justice-Centered Qualitative Research Method 2023, CohenMiller, Anna
Nontraditional Students Still Feel Left Out: And 3 Ways to Enhance Inclusion in Higher Education 2023, CohenMiller, Anna; Jermstad, Mary Ann Andersen
What is research in the “new normal”? A dialogue on research approaches in/after the “post” era. 2023, CohenMiller, Anna
Arts-Based Decolonial Research to Meaningfully Connect with Lived Experience 2023, CohenMiller, Anna
Understanding the experiences of doctoral student mothers in higher education of Uzbekistan: An interdisciplinary approach 2023, CohenMiller, Anna
Reflections on the future of research methodologies with Professor Anna CohenMiller 2023, CohenMiller, Anna