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Ben Burgen

Biography

Dr. Burgen is a cultural anthropologist specializing in economic and environmental anthropology. His research focuses on aspects of contemporary human mobility and globalization with a particular focus on the social, economic, and environmental impacts of circuits of migration between West Africa and Europe. More specifically, his work explores the ways in which migrants abroad and family members back home work together to sustain relationships, livelihoods, community, and a distinctive way of life while adapting to evolving realities. More broadly, his interests encompass the variety of ways that people today can use travel and cross-cultural connections to broaden their perspectives and improve their lives.

Degrees & Institutions

Dr. Burgen received a BA in anthropology and international studies from the University of Kansas, an MA in environmental anthropology from Washington State University where he participated in the US Peace Corps’ Masters’ International program, and a PhD in anthropology from the University of Florida.

Research

Dr. Burgen has carried out long-term ethnographic research among the Soninke and Wolof peoples in the rural Senegal River Valley region of both Mauritania and Senegal. From 2005 to 2007, he lived in a rural Soninke town in the Guidimaka region of Mauritania, where he carried out ethnographic research while simultaneously serving as a US Peace Corps volunteer. In 2015-2016, he received a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Grant, which funded an 11-month period of ethnographic research in a rural Wolof town in the Matam region of Senegal. Beyond these longer-term research periods, Dr. Burgen continues to visit and stay connected with people from Senegal and Mauritania through shorter research trips to West Africa and visits to migrant communities located in France, Italy, and Spain.

Classes Taught

ANT 2000: Introduction to Anthropology
ANT 3212: Peoples and Cultures of the World
ANT 3241: Anthropology of Religion
ANT 3352: African Cultures
ANT 4006 / ANG 5453: Anthropology of Human Rights
ANT 4403 / ANG 5022: Environmental Anthropology
ANT 4473 / ANG 5472: Anthropology of Globalization
HUM 2020: Introduction to the Humanities

Special Interests

Dr. Burgen first went abroad for an exchange semester in France as a 19-year-old sophomore and has been captivated by travel and cross-cultural exchange ever since. He loves experiencing new cultures, exploring new cities, learning new languages, and experiencing new landscapes. After graduating with his BA, he served as a volunteer in the US Peace Corps in Mauritania. After completing his MA, he taught English in South Korea. Some of his favorite travels include crossing the Sahara overland, backpacking across Morocco and Western Europe, and climbing volcanoes in Indonesia. He speaks French, Soninke, Wolof, and some Korean.

Publications

2024 Burgen, Benjamin R. and Meredith G. Marten. Sanctified Suffering and the Common Good: Translocal Health Care Provisioning in Smalltown Senegal. Economic Anthropology 11(2): 177-186. 
2023 Marten, Meredith G., Allysha P. Winburn, Benjamin R. Burgen, Spencer K. Seymour, Taylor Walkup.  What Makes a ‘Good’ Forensic Anthropologist? American Anthropologist 125(3): 582-596. 

Keywords: Economic anthropology, environmental anthropology, African studies, globalization, migration, Sufi Islam, Senegal, Mauritania, Soninke, Wolof