Experience
Current positions
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (2006 – present), Empower International Ministries
NON-RESIDENT SCHOLAR (2006 – present), Institute for the Studies of Religion, Baylor University
ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST AND CONSULTANT (1988 – present)
Past positions
SENIOR SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE (2009-2017), Chapman University, Argyros School of Business and Economics
SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW (2003-2009) Center for the Economic Study of Religion, George Mason University
EXECUTIVE OFFICER (2003 – 2006) The Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture
SENIOR ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS CONSULTANT; TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR; HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING AND POLICY GROUP LEAD Lockheed Missiles and Space Company (1984 – 1992)
ADJUNCT FACULTY
Department of Psychology, Santa Clara University (1983 – 1984)
Department of Psychology, Mundelein College Chicago (1980 – 1982).
VOLUNTEER
Vice-president, Board of Directors, YWCA in Santa Clara Valley (1988 – 1993)
Education
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Doctor of Philosophy, Social and Organizational Psychology, 1982
Master of Arts, Social Sciences, 1979
Publications
Books and chapters in books
The Transformation of Missions in the Twenty-First Century: Cross-Cultural Partnership without Syncretism. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic, 2025.
The Redemption of Love: Rescuing Marriage and Sexuality from the Economics of a Fallen World. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2006.
New Man, New Woman, New Life. Fairfax, VA: Empower International Ministries, 2008.
Male and Female in Christ. San Jose, CA: Carrie A. Miles, 1999.
Face-to-Face: Discover the Joy of Relationships Built on Mutual Respect, Equality, and Self-Giving Love. Orange, CA: Empower International Ministries, 2015.
Quality Basics. Participants’ workbook and facilitators’ guide. Commercial training program marketed by Alamo Learning Systems, 1992.
“Transformation of a Group for the Widowed,” (with Mark Steinberg). In Self-Help Groups for Coping With Crisis, Morton A. Lieberman, Leonard D. Borman and Associates. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1979.
“Vague Quantifiers,” (with Norman M. Bradburn). In Improving Interview Method and Questionnaire Design, Norman M. Bradburn, Seymour Sudman and Associates, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1979 and in Questionnaires, Norman M. Bradburn, ed.., 2003. Originally published in Public Opinion Quarterly, 1979: 91 – 101.
“Dealing with Social Change: The Mormon Church’s Response to Change in Women’s Roles,” (with Laurence R. Iannaccone). In Contemporary Mormonism, Marie Cornwall, Tim B. Heaton, and Lawrence A. Young, eds., Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1994. Originally published in Social Forces, June 1990, 68 (4): 1231-1250.
“LDS Family Ideals Versus the Equality of Women: Navigating the Changes Since 1957.” In Revisiting The Mormons: Persistent Themes and Contemporary Perspectives, Cardell K. Jacobson, John P. Hoffman, and Tim B. Heaton, eds., Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2007.
“’What’s Love Got to Do with It?’ Earthly Experience of Celestial Marriage, Past and Present,” In Modern Polygamy in the United States: Historical, Cultural, and Legal Issues, Cardell Jacobson and Lara Burton, eds.,New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
“An Economic Hermeneutics of Gender.” In The Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Economics, Paul Oslington, ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Academic articles and papers
“Vague Quantifiers,” (with Norman M. Bradburn). Public Opinion Quarterly, 1979: 91 – 101. Reprinted in Improving Interview Method and Questionnaire Design, 1979, and in Questionnaires, 2003.
“Dealing with Social Change: The Mormon Church’s Response to Change in Women’s Roles,” (with Laurence R. Iannaccone). Social Forces, June 1990, 68 (4): 1231-1250. Reprinted in Contemporary Mormonism, 1994.
“Development and Gender Equality: Consequences, Causes, Challenges and Cures,” with Anne Mikkola. Paper presented at UNU-WIDER conference on Gender and Food Security, Accra, Ghana, May 2007; and at IAFFE, New Orleans, LA, January 2008. Published as Anne Mikkola and Carrie Miles, Development and Gender Equality: Consequences, Causes, Challenges and Cure,” Discussion Paper No. 159, April 2007, ISSN 1795-0562 HECER-Helsinki Center of Economic Research.
“’Because Women Are Property’: Issues of Property Ownership, Gender, Quasi- Development and Religion in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Paper presented at UNU-WIDER conference on Gender and Food Security, Accra, Ghana, May 2007. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43610432_Development_and_Gender_Equality_Consequences_Causes_Challenges_and_Cures [accessed Oct 14 2022].
“The Church versus the Spirit: The Impact of Christianity on the Welfare of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Presented at meetings of the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics and Culture/Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Tampa, FL, November 2008. ASREC/ARDA Working Paper series, www.thearda.com/workingpapers.
Book review of Amateurs without Borders. Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 4(1), Summer 2022.
Papers and presentations, religion journals and conferences
“The Genesis of Gender,” Sunstone, July 1997: 16 – 26.
“Preaching to an Absent Choir,” (review of The Empty Church by Thomas C. Reeves). Sunstone, March 1998: 60-61.
“Our Modern, Dirty Minds,” (review of Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans by D. Michael Quinn), Sunstone, September 1997: 61 – 63.
“Lucy’s Courtship and Kimball’s Wager: Polygamy and the Economics of Salvation.” Sunstone, August 1998: 34 – 45.
“God as Mother,” Sunstone, October 2002: 42-46.
“Eternal Love,” Dialogue, Fall 2003: 141-152.
“Debating the Data” (Review of Evangelical Identity and Gendered Family Life, by Sally Gallagher), Priscilla Papers, Winter 2004 :21-22.
“For Richer, for Poorer: Materialism’s Corruption of Marriage and Family, Past and Present, and Moral Solutions to Its Problems.” Presented at Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda, October 2005.
“Patriarchy or Gender Equality? Reading the Apostle Paul in Light of Ancient History and Modern Economics.” Dialogue, June 2006.
“Jesus and Family Values,” Mutuality, Summer 2006.
“Social Change, Value Drift, and Theological Innovation: The case of Christianity and ‘Family Values.’” Paper presented at the Evangelical Theological Society, Washington, D.C., November 2006.
“Honor and Love in Christianity,” in The Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions, Yudit Kornberg Greenberg, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2008: 311- 313.
“The Challenge for Christianity in Africa: Transforming Marriage from Economic to Companionate.” Paper presented at the Evangelical Theological Society meetings, San Diego, CA, November 2008.
“From The Godfather to God as Father: The Currency of Transaction with the Divine and Its Implications for Human Relationships. An African Example.” Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture, Washington, D. C., 2011.
“Hookup Culture, Same-Sex Marriage, and the Collapse of Religion in the West.” Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture, Washington, D.C., 2013; Sunstone Symposium, Salt Lake City, UT, 2014, and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Washington, D.C, 2017.
“The Accidental Syncretist: How European Missionary Teachings Fused with African Cultural Practices to Harm Women.” Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture, Boston, MA, 2015, and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Newport Beach, CA, October 2015.
“Hookup Culture and the Collapse of Religion.” Paper presented at Africa International University, Karen, Kenya, January 2015; St. Paul’s University, Limuru, Kenya, January 2015; Presbyterian University, Kikuyu, Kenya 2019; and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Atlanta, GA, October 2016.
“Syncretism and Religious Inflexibility: The Pending Collapse of Mormonism.” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion-Mormon Social Science Association, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2018.
“The Changing Face of Christian Missions in the Twenty First Century.” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Portland, OR 2021.
“The Plight of Men.” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion/Mormon Social Science Association, Baltimore, MD. 2022.
“Polyvagal Theory, the Syncretization of Patriarchy, and Religious Disaffiliation.” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Salt Lake City, UT, 2023
“Mormonism as a Narcissistic Institution.” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion-Mormon Social Science Association, Washington, D.C. 2017. Sunstone Symposium, Sandy, Utah, 2022.
“Mormon Spirituality and the Affirmation of Truth.” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion-Mormon Social Science Association, Baltimore, MD. 2022. Sunstone Symposium, Sandy, Utah, 2023.
“Mormonism In Extremis: Threats Along the Covenant Path.” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion-Mormon Social Science Association, Salt Lake City, UT, 2023.
“Mormonism – and Mormons – In Extremis: Thorns Along the Covenant Path,” Sunstone Symposium, Salt Lake City, UT, 2024.
“Does It Make Sense to Label Mainline Disaffiliates as ‘Evangelical’?” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Pittsburgh, PA, 2024.
“Danger and Disaffiliation, Political Extremism, and Depression: A Mormon Example.” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion/Mormon Social Science Association, Pittsburgh, PA, 2024.
“Joseph Smith, Andrew Tate, and the Plight of Men.” Sunstone Symposium, Salt Lake City, UT, 2025.