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Ben Burgen

Dr. Benjamin Burgen

Biography

Dr. Ben Burgen serves as academic advisor for the Department of Anthropology, and also regularly teaches anthropology courses at UWF. He has been a student of anthropology and global cultural diversity for many years. He first went abroad for an exchange semester in France as a 19-year-old sophomore and has been traveling ever since. He served as a volunteer in the US Peace Corps in Mauritania, crossed the Sahara overland, backpacked across Morocco and Western Europe, taught English in South Korea, climbed volcanoes in Indonesia, and carried out ethnographic research in Mauritania, Senegal, France, Italy, and Spain. He speaks French, Soninke, Wolof and some Korean.

In his role as academic advisor for the Department of Anthropology, Burgen is focused on helping UWF students chart an efficient path through school that provides them with the skills and knowledge they need to achieve their post-graduation goals.

Burgen holds a B.A. in Anthropology and International Studies from the University of Kansas, a M.A. in Anthropology from Washington State University where he participated in the US Peace Corps’ Masters’ International program, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Florida. In 2016 he received a Fulbright-Hays DDRA Grant to carry out a year of ethnographic research in rural Senegal. His research explores 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 broadly, his interests encompass the variety of ways that people today can use travel and cross-cultural connection to broaden their perspectives and improve their lives.