Biography
Recent Activities
Prof. Ward’s most recent book project was the 2011 second edition of a textbook on reading and writing across the disciplines, written with Prof. Elizabeth Vander Lei. More recently he’s been called to administrative work, serving as English Department co-chair in 2013-14 and as academic dean for Calvin’s division of social sciences and contextual disciplines in 2014-15. He begins, in the summer of 2014, his fourth year as a member of Calvin’s Teaching and Learning Network, which works to improve the quality of instruction at Calvin. In August of 2014, he will begin to administer a Lilly Network Mentoring grant, designed to improve teaching and, particularly, teaching for Calvin’s faith and learning mission.
Favorite Books
- George Elliot, Middlemarch
- Charlotte Brontë, Villette
- Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
- J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings trilogy
- Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow
- Toni Morrison, Beloved
Hobbies
- Gardening
- Woodworking
- Fishkeeping
- Old man sports (racquetball—you never have to run far; golf—no running allowed)
Education
Prof. Ward earned a B.S. in biology from Wheaton College (IL); working in a biochemistry lab somehow spun him into a Ph.D. program in literature at the University of Virginia, where he earned a doctorate with a dissertation on science and the novel.
Academic Interests
- Novels
- Victorian literature
- African-American literature
- The teaching of writing
- Writing in and across the disciplines
- College teaching
Publications
