Peter H. Hansen is Professor of History and Director of International and Global Studies at WPI. In this role, responsibilities include enhancing the curricular components of WPI’s global programs, exploring new partnerships, and advising students in global projects. International and Global Studies brings together faculty from the arts and sciences, business, and the global school to enrich students' global experiences on campus and around the world. He enjoys teaching courses in history or international and global studies, seminars on sports or global studies, and advising student teams in the global projects programs. He has advised WPI students in Bangkok, Copenhagen, London, Lyon, Morocco, Namibia, Venice, Washington DC, and Worcester. He is co-director of project programs at Copenhagen, Denmark, and Lyon, France. Hansen was a Fulbright Scholar in France for the Fulbright International Education Administrators Program in 2017. At WPI, he previously directed the fellowships and scholarships program for a decade, and led multi-year efforts to revise the general education curriculum, change faculty promotion policies, and establish a framework for diversity, equity and inclusion on campus. 

Hansen's research investigates the intertwined histories of mountaineering and modernity. The Summits of Modern Man examined the transformation of the summit position--which had been reserved for God or the King before the eighteenth century--into a symbol of individual sovereignty and enlightenment. Debates over “who was first” in the ascent of Mont Blanc, Everest and other peaks articulated changing definitions of modernity. Hansen has also published on colonialism, cross-cultural encounters, documentary films, and WPI's project program. Currently, he is writing a book on commercialization and Mount Everest for Harvard University Press.

Hansen was a visiting fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study at Durham University in 2018. Previously he has been a visiting fellow at Cambridge University, the Australian National University, and Harvard University. He is a past president of the Northeast Conference on British Studies, and a current director of the Worcester World Affairs Council. His research has reached wider audiences as a lecturer at public libraries and museums and as commentator for television programs on the BBC, History Channel, and Discovery Channel.