Cogut Institute for the Humanities

Ben Safran is Institute Manager at the Cogut Institute for the Humanities. They are responsible for operations including strategic planning, financial processes, facilities management, and human resources. They have a Ph.D. in music from Temple University and have presented research on protest music, campaign strategy, identity studies in music, music in childhood and youth culture, media studies, hermeneutics, ecomusicology, and 20th- and 21st-century concert music. Their scholarly work has been published in the Journal of the Society for American Music and Yale Journal of Music and Religion, while their compositions have been performed by musicians ranging from principal members of the Philadelphia Orchestra to grassroots activists performing a guerilla concert in a corporate headquarters lobby. They also serve on the board of environmental group Earth Quaker Action Team.