Home › Faculty-in-Residence Program › Participants

Benjamin F. Ward

Associate Professor of Philosophy
Associate Dean for Residence Life and Housing Services

Prof. Ward is actively involved in many aspects of undergraduate life at Duke. His teaching ranges widely--aesthetics, philosophy of music, philosophy of education, existentialism, philosophy of sport, Modern Standard Arabic. He regularly offers seminars and specialized tutorials on the work of Nietzsche and Heidegger, and frequently collaborates with colleagues on interdisciplinary courses in German Studies and Romance Languages. His research focuses primarily on issues in aesthetics, on the theory and practices of romanticism, and on the work of the Frankfurt School.

He founded and continues to direct The Pitchforks, Duke's oldest undergraduate a cappella singing group. He also directs the activities of Musica Viva, a five-member vocal ensemble that specializes in sacred and secular music of the 16th and 17th centuries. A pianist of distinction, he has performed with orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the U.S. as well as in Europe. During the summer of 2004 he played full recitals in Salzburg, Vienna, Pittsburgh, and Seattle.

In 1994 Prof. Ward was one of five Duke faculty members asked to videotape a special series of six lectures in the "Duke Great Teachers Series." His video lectures, A Question of Art, have been widely distributed throughout the U.S. He also lectures in person every summer at the N.C. Governor's School at Salem College and appears regularly at a number of universities for master classes and residencies. Since Fall 2002 he has been a member of the Board of Visitors at the N.C. School of the Arts in Winston-Salem.

Most evenings Benjamin can be found in the kitchen preparing dinner at the Durham Community Shelter for H.O.P.E. His extensive volunteer activity with, and on behalf of, shelter residents has brought him two recent honors: the Duke Humanitarian Service Award in 1997 and, in the spring of 1999, the Jefferson Award, given by the American Institute for Public Service.

09E West Duke Building
(919) 660-3139
bfw@duke.edu
Residence: 115 Mitchell Tower, Schaefer House (613-1798)