Humanities and Arts
Peter H. Hansen
Associate Professor
Director of International Studies
Advisor for Undergraduate Awards
Associate Department Head
Department: Humanities & Arts
Professional Page
Office: Salisbury Laboratories, 107
Phone: +1-508-831-5481
Fax: +1-508-831-5932
phansen@wpi.edu
Educational Background
- B.A., Carleton College, 1984
- M.A., Harvard University, 1986
- Ph.D., Harvard University, 1991
Research & Teaching Interests
Research Interests: Modern European history; British history; imperialism and postcolonial studies; international studies; global history; the history of mountains and mountaineering; documentary films; cultural studies.
IQP Advising Interests
International studies, history, colonial legacies, sports, film and media, appropriate technology, sustainable development, environment and society.
Research
My research and teaching is comparative and interdisciplinary. I have published works on mountaineering and imperialism, cross-cultural encounters, Orientalism and film, and subaltern studies in Journal of British Studies, American Historical Review, Past and Present, Comparative Studies in Society and History, and several collections of essays.
I am currently completing a scholarly book on mountaineering and modernity since the eighteenth century. This work investigates debates over “who was first” on Mont Ventoux, Mont Blanc, Mount Everest, and Grand Teton to explore wider tensions of modernity. I am also writing a cultural history of Everest in the twentieth century and publish occasional essays about western encounters with Tibet. I have been a visiting fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge, the Australian National University, and Harvard University. I have brought my work to a wider audience as a lecturer at public libraries and as a commentator and consultant to British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) television programs on first ascents of Everest and the Matterhorn. I am also President of the North East Conference on British Studies.
At WPI, I teach European/global history and international studies, advise students applying for nationally competitive fellowships, and serve as Associate Head of the Humanities and Arts Department. I have taught in WPI’s interdisciplinary programs at London, Bangkok, and Washington, DC. In these roles, I also have an interest in international educational programs as well as general education in the humanities, arts, and social sciences.
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