A Global Perspective
Ben’s international career and experience have given him a unique perspective and approach to educational consultation, mediation, and conflict resolution.
Beginning with his study and research in Mexico and New Zealand and continuing with his international mediation practice, Ben has brought together his research and study of psychology, sociology, international studies, law, and political science in his mediation practice, organizational consultation, and employment law trainings.
Whether negotiating contracts in China, presenting his research in Scotland and elsewhere, or teaching university, adult, and professional students in New Zealand, Ecuador, and the United States, Ben has accumulated rich resources and multifaceted experiences that set him apart from other professionals in the field.
Undergraduate Education 1997-2001
Ben began his education as a first-generation college student attending Northwest Nazarene University, a liberal arts college in the State of Idaho. Starting with a degree in social work, Ben added additional majors in related disciplines, eventually earning four bachelor’s degrees in social work, psychology, international studies (political science), and Spanish.
During his undergraduate studies, Ben began working as a bilingual service coordinator for children with disabilities and their families. He eventually became the program manager through the Idaho Migrant Council’s Salud y Provecho, assisting families and children throughout Southwestern Idaho and Eastern Oregon while he finished his undergraduate degrees. While working for the Migrant Council, he supervised two staff members and managed a caseload of more than 40 families.
Prior to his university graduation in 2001, Ben also studied at the Universidad Internacional (UNINTER) in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where he earned his Certificate of Bilingual and Multicultural Studies in 2000.
Early Career 2001-2003
After graduation, Ben began working for the State of Idaho’s Department of Health and Welfare in Child and Family Services and the Infant Toddler Program, where he facilitated therapy services to children with disabilities while collaborating with service providers and agencies throughout the state. He reduced therapy waiting times by more than 75% through his innovative organizational methods and restructuring of systems and processes within the Infant Toddler Program.
Graduate Studies in New Zealand 2003-2004 and 2008-2011
In 2003, Ben and his wife Michelle moved to Dunedin, New Zealand, to pursue graduate studies at the University of Otago. Ben studied for and completed a Master’s Degree in International Studies (M.Int.St.), a multi-disciplinary degree with coursework in international politics, global economics, international law, and peace and conflict studies.
While working toward his Master’s Degree, Ben also began teaching undergraduate university courses in Spanish and Latin American Studies at the University of Otago, where he served as a Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Languages and Cultures.
While on a one-year sabbatical from teaching in 2008-2009, Ben and Michelle moved back to New Zealand so Ben could pursue doctoral studies. He researched and wrote much of his dissertation while in New Zealand, traveling to Mexico and Australia to conduct additional archival research. Ben completed his doctoral dissertation through the University of Otago, graduating in 2011 while teaching full-time as Assistant Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies.
University Teaching and Administration 2004-2016
After returning to the U.S. in 2004, Ben began teaching full-time at his alma mater, Northwest Nazarene University, where he would develop coursework and programs in language, culture, and social sciences, administrate dual enrollment courses throughout the Pacific Northwest, and eventually chair multiple departments in the humanities and social sciences.
Assistant Professor of Spanish & Latin American Studies
From 2004 until he joined the Idaho Human Rights Commission in 2016, Ben taught courses in Spanish language and grammar; Mexican, Spanish, Cuban, and other Latin American history and civilizations; social and political history; sociology and symbolic interactionism; issues of developing nations; “ways of knowing” and philosophical approaches to the humanities; and cornerstone/capstone courses in the humanities.
In addition to his teaching, Ben regularly led international student trips to Mexico, Costa Rica, and other Spanish-speaking countries. Collaborating with colleagues in biology and the arts, Ben led educational adventures that took students hiking through lowland jungle ecosystems and high elevation elfin cloud forests, exploring urban Mexico City, and studying the languages and cultures of Spain and France.
Beginning in 2004 and continuing to the present, Ben has administered a dual enrollment, concurrent credit program in languages, mentoring teachers who teach his undergraduate courses in many states, including California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and others. He provides mentoring, resources, and oversight for the university program that enables advanced high school students to earn both secondary and post-secondary credit for courses in Spanish, French, Mandarin, and related culture courses.
University Administration and Academic Leadership
As a university professor, Ben also took on progressive responsibility as a supervisor, department chair, and elected faculty representative. He chaired several academic departments, including the Department of Modern Languages and the Department of Psychology, Sociology, and Criminal Justice.
Ben administered a university-wide humanities curriculum and served as chair of NNU’s General Education Council, overseeing the revision of undergraduate general education requirements using AAC&U outcomes, the LEAP framework, and department data and outcomes. He directed the development of an intercultural course requirement for all undergraduate students and commissioned working groups within the Council to refine general education policies and outcomes assessment.
Ben also served as chair of the Faculty Development Committee and was elected by the faculty as Faculty Secretary from 2012-2016. As chair of Faculty Development, Ben created a tri-fold approach to faculty development in teaching, scholarship, and leadership. Using data from faculty evaluations, rank and tenure guidelines, and surveys of faculty, Ben designed workshops and support services related to teaching, instructional methods, and pedagogy. He also managed the distribution of secondary professional development grants, sabbatical funds, and other faculty awards.
Ben sat on the Diversity Task Force and the Faculty Policy Council, as well as the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s foster care initiative and the Idaho chapter of the national Partners of the Americas as a board member and grantee.
Publications and Presentations
Throughout his tenure as Assistant Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies, Ben wrote several academic papers and reviews, as well as his master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation. He wrote on topics including the 1912 U.S. military intervention in Cuba, the 1906-1909 and 1917-1922 U.S. occupations of Cuba, and the Truman Doctrine in Latin America. He reviewed several books in The Latin Americanist, including Brent Metz’s Ch’orti’-Maya Survival in Eastern Guatemala: Indegeneity in Transition and Samuel Farber’s The Origins of the Cuban Revolution Reconsidered.
Ben published his master’s thesis through the University of Otago in 2004, entitled “Fidel Castro’s Political Foundation: Seeds of a Revolution or Roots of a Dictatorship?” He authored his doctoral dissertation, also through the University of Otago, entitled, “An Interactionist Framework of Power in Colonial Yucatán,” a sociological study of power and power dynamics during the colonial period in Mexico.
Ben has presented academic research at conferences and invited lectures in China, Scotland, Ecuador, and throughout the United States on topics such as the use of sociological methods to teach controversial topics; a comparative study of Magic Realism in Latin America and China; and interactionist frameworks of power in colonial Yucatán. He has taught technical, administrative content at conferences in Florida, Tennessee, Colorado, Illinois, and elsewhere in the United States. He has trained hundreds of businesses and organizations in civil rights and employment law, policy development, and personnel best practices.
Academic Travel, Negotiations, Service, and Leadership
As Assistant Professor of Spanish & Latin American Studies, Ben created and hosted regional conferences with the Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho and NNU on topics including pressing issues in the LatinX community and immigration reform, drawing hundreds of participants and speakers from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. His work in immigration reform also took him to Washington D.C., where he lobbied elected officials as a constituent for changes to immigration statutes and national policies.
In 2006, Ben received federal grant funding through the Peace Corps‘ short-term service program, Partners of the Americas. Ben traveled to Riobamba and Quito, Ecuador, where he and colleague Sharon Larrocoechea taught courses on pedagogy and teaching methods to high school and university faculty, including Curso de Metodologías de Inglés como Segundo Idioma para los Maestros de Escuelas Secundarias de la Provincia del Chimborazo and a similar course for university faculty at the National University of Chimborazo.
