Karryn MacDonald
Staff Writer
Seth Ward’s journey from New York to the Philosophy and Religious Studies Department at the University of Wyoming is one full of many positions and extensive travel.
In 1984, Ward graduated with his doctorate from Yale. From there, he has taught at his alma mater, Trinity College, CU Boulder, the University of Haifa in Israel and has spent 10 years at the University of Denver where he also directed the Institute for Islamic and Judaic studies.
“In 2002, in the aftermath of the 9/11 in 2001, I was approached by Dr. Paul Flesher who offered me a position to bring back an Islamic History course and, as you can see, I accepted. When I started, religious studies was just a program, it then became a department, and now it is the joint department of Philosophy and Religious studies – I’ve been through it all,” said Ward.
Now he teaches courses at UW, including Introduction to Judaism and A History of Islam.
In today’s climate, religious affiliations and religious issues are difficult to discuss. Through all of the strife that surrounds these topics, Ward said he strives to foster a community that is willing to delve into the history, tradition and meaning of religion.
“One of the problems that I encounter teaching more generic religion courses is that many people come from a Christian background. Often, we have to destroy that as being the basis of everything that they know. I choose to destroy it by building on it rather than saying ‘forget everything that you’ve been taught.’ Rather, I choose to say, ‘let’s go beyond what you know, to look at it on a more mature and more academic level,’” said Ward.
While many of Ward’s classes on Islam are very large, he has found that most of his students are from the Muslim community. He also said he finds discussion with the local Wyoming Muslim students in his classes to be particularly fruitful when is comes to exposing other students to the history of Islam.
“They have helped me create an environment where they are not seen as the “other”; they are part of us,” said Ward.
In 2008, Ward developed a program for a study oriented tour that branched off from his Mid-East religions courses – he wanted students to be able to study Middle Eastern religions in the Middle East. Thus the annual Field Course 4960 was born. Through this program, students travel to Israel with excursions into Egypt and Jordan. The journey takes up three weeks at the beginning of the summer.
“The program focuses on Judaism, Christianity, Islam, with a little bit of influence from the ancient religions like the Druze, the Baháʼí and the Zoroastrians. We visit sights that are related to those religions and we talk about tradition. We also do archeology and deal with natural resources, the Dead Sea, the Mediteranean and anything else that we find to be interesting,” said Ward.
Ward said they do a lot of things that are “just plain cool” like visiting water tunnels that are 2700 years old, climbing Masada, spending a week in Jerusalem, going to Ascension Thursday services that are held in Armenian, Greek, Aramaic and Arabic, along with visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, just to name a few.
Every year on the trip, Ward hosts what he called the “Wyoming-Jerusalem Seminar ” where he and the students pull an all nighter on a traditional Jewish holiday, talking about what this tradition means and then go to the Western Wall to watch people fill it up. Along the way they always manage to meet up with a group of what Ward liked to call “1970s hippy-like people” who also stay up all night and do the same thing. He said he wanted his students to experience the more spiritual side of Israel, rather than just the academic.
Ward prides himself in his ability to take students along on these journeys.
“Programs like these allow students here at the University of Wyoming to become more rounded, informed individuals,” said Ward.
Most of Ward’s life has been dedicated to the study and teaching of history, practices and current issues within religion – and this could not be more apparent. From his office crammed with books, to his push for study abroad, his passion can be infectious.
“Religious studies may just be the most important major or minor you can have. Our department often says, ‘Even if you’re not sure if you want to have this as your major, it’s still a fantastic minor that complements just about every field of study,’” Ward said.
