About
Dr. Ward arrived in Cleveland in the Fall of 2002 from the Pacific coast, with an undergraduate degree in History from the University of Washington, and Master?s and Doctoral degrees from the University of California, Riverside. He came to Lee initially to help create a Latin American Studies program, as his historical research focuses on colonial Latin America, particularly southern Mexico. Since then, he has developed courses on the histories of Pirates, Asia, the Pacific Rim, Commodity Consumption, various parts of Latin America, and also Historical Methods. When he is not in class, he continues doing research on the intertwined histories of colonial societies and material culture, to understand why modern humans are defined so fully by the material things that they possess. He also enjoys a wide variety of music (perhaps favoring progressive rock above other genres), literature (particularly Tolkien and classic science fiction), and games of all kinds. In addition to all of these interests, Dr. Ward has accomplished such feats as grilling at history department cookouts, leading students on trips to Mexico and Austria, and mercilessly crushing students in chess. Dr. Ward is married to Diette, and they have two daughters, Genevieve and Charlotte.