"As a beloved humanities professor with ten years of teaching and mentoring success at Yale, Columbia, and Deep Springs, I believe that seeking depth is the key to a meaningful life. To that end, I welcome students of all ages seeking mentorship, college and grad school counseling, writing help (academic, creative, and admissions essays), guidance in humanities or social sciences courses, and who seek to deepen as writers, thinkers, and individuals.

I have earned a reputation as a transformational teacher (of subjects from the epic tradition to American literature to political philosophy to Bob Dylan) and an inspiring chosen academic, senior essay, and independent study adviser for dozens of students. I have a strong record of success helping students achieve their intellectual and professional goals with creativity, excellence, and fun. Education: BA, Yale; PhD, Columbia. Fellowships: Hums Postdoc, Whitney Hums Ctr (Yale); Nicolson, Ponsford, Core Preceptorship (Columbia); Owen (Johns Hopkins)

Sample student comment: "In addition to his passion, flexibility, and engagement as an instructor, [Ben] gives excellent feedback on papers, which is incredibly helpful [...] His feedback is very constructive, with notes on both the structural and sentence level that clearly demonstrate a serious engagement with your writing. The last strength I would attribute to [Ben] is his willingness to take his students seriously - he carries a great respect for our ideas and engages with our contributions in class, in discussion responses, and in papers without an ounce of condescension, which encourages me to make strong contributions, knowing that he will truly consider them." less...