SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Peter H. Hansen is Professor of History and Director of International and Global Studies at WPI. International and Global Studies brings together faculty from arts and sciences, business, engineering, and the global school to enrich students' experience of global engagement on campus and around the world. He enjoys teaching courses in history or international and global studies, seminars on sports or global studies, and working with student teams in WPI's project programs. He is director of the Copenhagen Project Center and has advised student projects in Bangkok, Copenhagen, London, Lyon, Morocco, Namibia, Venice, Washington DC, and Worcester. Hansen was a Fulbright Scholar in France for the Fulbright International Education Administrators Program.
Hansen's research investigates the intertwined histories of mountaineering and modernity. The Summits of Modern Man: Mountaineering after the Enlightenment (Harvard University Press, 2013) examined the transformation of the summit position into a symbol of individual sovereignty and enlightenment since the eighteenth century. Debates over “who was first” on Mont Blanc, Mt Everest, Mont Ventoux, and other peaks articulated changing definitions of modernity. Hansen has also published on colonialism, cross-cultural encounters, documentary films, mountains, and WPI's project program.
He has written about Mount Everest for many years and is co-editor of Other Everests: One Mountain, Many Worlds (Manchester University Press, November 2024), which brings together perspectives from Australia, Canada, France, Korea, Nepal, Poland, Slovenia, UK, and US. Other Everests highlights the many worlds on this mountain, including Buddhist monks, Sherpas, women, gear, films, social media, and theatrical performances. Currently, Hansen is writing a book on the whiteness of Mount Everest.
Hansen has been a visiting fellow at the Durham University, Cambridge University, the Australian National University, and Harvard University. He is President of the Worcester World Affairs Council and a former president of the Northeast Conference on British Studies. At WPI, Hansen has led multi-year efforts to revise the general education requirements in the humanities and arts, broaden the criteria for promotion in academic rank, and institutionalize a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion across the university. His research has reached wider audiences as a lecturer at public libraries and museums and as a commentator for television programs on the BBC, History Channel, and Discovery Channel. He recently appeared on BBC World Service The Forum on The only way is up: A history of mountaineering.
Visit Digital WPI to view student projects advised by Professor Hansen.
Peter H. Hansen is Professor of History and Director of International and Global Studies at WPI. International and Global Studies brings together faculty from arts and sciences, business, engineering, and the global school to enrich students' experience of global engagement on campus and around the world. He enjoys teaching courses in history or international and global studies, seminars on sports or global studies, and working with student teams in WPI's project programs. He is director of the Copenhagen Project Center and has advised student projects in Bangkok, Copenhagen, London, Lyon, Morocco, Namibia, Venice, Washington DC, and Worcester. Hansen was a Fulbright Scholar in France for the Fulbright International Education Administrators Program.
Hansen's research investigates the intertwined histories of mountaineering and modernity. The Summits of Modern Man: Mountaineering after the Enlightenment (Harvard University Press, 2013) examined the transformation of the summit position into a symbol of individual sovereignty and enlightenment since the eighteenth century. Debates over “who was first” on Mont Blanc, Mt Everest, Mont Ventoux, and other peaks articulated changing definitions of modernity. Hansen has also published on colonialism, cross-cultural encounters, documentary films, mountains, and WPI's project program.
He has written about Mount Everest for many years and is co-editor of Other Everests: One Mountain, Many Worlds (Manchester University Press, November 2024), which brings together perspectives from Australia, Canada, France, Korea, Nepal, Poland, Slovenia, UK, and US. Other Everests highlights the many worlds on this mountain, including Buddhist monks, Sherpas, women, gear, films, social media, and theatrical performances. Currently, Hansen is writing a book on the whiteness of Mount Everest.
Hansen has been a visiting fellow at the Durham University, Cambridge University, the Australian National University, and Harvard University. He is President of the Worcester World Affairs Council and a former president of the Northeast Conference on British Studies. At WPI, Hansen has led multi-year efforts to revise the general education requirements in the humanities and arts, broaden the criteria for promotion in academic rank, and institutionalize a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion across the university. His research has reached wider audiences as a lecturer at public libraries and museums and as a commentator for television programs on the BBC, History Channel, and Discovery Channel. He recently appeared on BBC World Service The Forum on The only way is up: A history of mountaineering.
Visit Digital WPI to view student projects advised by Professor Hansen.
SDG 5: Gender Equality
SDG 5: Gender Equality - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
Scholarly Work
"The Many Faces of a Mountain," in Everest 24: New Views on the 1924 Mount Everest Expedition (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books, 2024), pp. 144-147.
Worcester World Affairs Council
Institute of Advanced Study, Durham University
Franco-American Fulbright Commission
Center for European Studies, Harvard University
North East Conference on British Studies
North American Conference on British Studies
Australian National University, Humanities Research Centre
Royal Historical Society
Clare Hall, Cambridge University
National Endowment for the Humanities
Harvard University
New York City Urban Fellows Program