A CAPPELLA: Since 2003 Ben has been Coordinator of the Recorded A Cappella Review Board (http://www.rarb.org/), where he also reviewed from 1997-2003. He is a Certified Adjudicator for the International Championships of Collegiate and High School A Cappella and nominates and judges for the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards. Ben has performed as a baritone, tenor, and vocal percussionist with groups in Portland, OR (Seven Deadly Sins, Reed College); Chicago (Harmony 8 / Ransom Notes, University of Chicago); and Boulder, CO (Extreme Measures, CU-Boulder), and runs regular workshops on vocal percussion (most recently at the fifth annual SoJam!). He currently advises a student group at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, the Orcapelicans.

ACADEMICS: Ben is Assistant Professor of Classical Studies at Bard College, where he also teaches in the College's Workshop in Language and Thinking. Previously he taught at the University of Chicago, the George Washington University, the Catholic University of America, and the University of Colorado at Boulder, his hometown, where he returns to teach each summer. His research and teaching interests include ancient languages and comparative literature, especially Latin, Greek, and Biblical Hebrew; the history and theory of linguistics and semiotics; speculative fiction and graphic literature; Roman history; poetry; and, of course, contemporary a cappella music (in 2005 Ben co-hosted the first-ever symposium on academic approaches to a cappella music, 'Yours in Song').

A respected lecturer and seminar leader, Ben is noted also for his outreach and community activities, ranging from a popular annual symposium on research into comics and undergraduate comic art to workshops on self-defense.

Ben speaks and/or reads old English, French, German, ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Italian, Lakhota, classical Latin, Russian, and Spanish. He soaks up languages like a sponge; wring him and words come out.

CONTACT INFORMATION: bstevens@rarb.org; bstevens@bard.edu.