Kristen L. Miller is a PhD candidate in sociology at the City University of New York (CUNY), Graduate Center. Kristen’s research interests include race, Black subjectivity, social movements, culture, Black geographies, emotions and embodiment. Her dissertation, Rideout: Freedom and Collective Movement in Black Biking Subcultures, is a multi-site ethnography examining the social world of Black biking communities in the U.S and South Africa. In the U.S, Kristen examines ‘bike life,’ a growing subculture of mostly young Black men who, during ‘rideouts,’ gather on bicycles, dirt bikes, and ATV’s to perform elaborate stunts while deftly navigating, and often taking over their city streets. In South Africa, she studies similar urban cycling communities in both the townships and central Johannesburg, where young Black men gather weekly on bicycles, that they often make themselves from found parts, to perform tricks and ride throughout the city. Across both contexts, Kristen shows how Black people collectively remake urban space and develop innovative ways to experience freedom. Kristen has received various fellowships in support of her research, including support from the American Sociological Association and the Fulbright Research Award.
Kristen Miller CV (PDF)
CCS Spring Conference - 2025. Student of CCS Faculty Fellow Thomas DeGloma