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’ global learning 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 students 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, Singapore, Venice, Washington DC, and Worcester.  

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. 

For many years he has written about Mount Everest and is co-editor of Other Everests: One Mountain, Many Worlds (Manchester University Press, 2024). Other Everests brings together interdisciplinary and international perspectives on the many worlds of this mountain, including Sherpas and Buddhist monks, women and gender, gear and material culture, films and social media, as well as multiple stories and theatrical performances. Other Everests also collaborated with The Confluence Collective in Kalimpong on the exhibit बाउको धुरी छैन Father Has No Roof Over His Head to share narratives of mountain communities whose lives and labor shaped early Himalayan expeditions. Currently, Hansen is writing a book on the whiteness of Mount Everest.  

Hansen has been a visiting fellow at Durham, Harvard, Cambridge, and the Australian National University and a Fulbright Scholar in France. Hansen has also published on colonialism, cross-cultural encounters, documentary films, mountains, and WPI’s project program. His research has reached wider audiences as a lecturer at public libraries and museums and as a commentator for radio on the BBC and NPR and television programs aired on CNN, BBC, History Channel, and Discovery Channel. 

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 enhance inclusion and belonging across the university. He is a former President of the Worcester World Affairs Council and Northeast Conference on British Studies. WPI recognized Hansen with the 2025 Denise Nicoletti Trustees’ Award for Service to Community.   

He joined Fredricka Whitfield on CNN and NPR's Science Friday to discuss Skimo's Winter Olympics debut and history of Skimo or Ski Mountaineering at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Watch CNN, or Listen on Science Friday Podcast, Apple, or Spotify. 

Recent media includes discussions about Other Everests on the Alpinist Podcast (also Apple or Spotify) and the The only way is up; A history of mountaineering on the BBC World Service The Forum (Listen BBC, Apple, Spotify). 

Visit Digital WPI to view student projects advised by Professor Hansen.