Imre Szeman (born 26 July 1968) is a Canadian
cultural theorist
Culture theory is the branch of comparative anthropology and semiotics (not to be confused with cultural sociology or cultural studies) that seeks to define the heuristic concept of culture in operationalism, operational and/or scientific metho ...
, professor, and public intellectual. He is Director of the Institute for Environment, Conservation, and Sustainability and Professor of Human Geography at the
University of Toronto Scarborough
The University of Toronto Scarborough, also known as U of T Scarborough or UTSC, is one of the three campuses that make up the tri-campus system of the University of Toronto. Located in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the campus is set upo ...
. Szeman was previously University Research Chair of Environmental Communication at the University of Waterloo (2017-2022), Canada Research Chair of Cultural Studies at the University of Alberta (2009-2016), and Senator William McMaster Chair in Globalization and Cultural Studies at McMaster University. In 2020, Szeman was named as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2022, he was the Leverhulme Visiting Professor in Critical Studies at the
University of Glasgow
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, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
. From 2021-2022, Szeman served as the Climate Critic for the
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada (french: Parti vert du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1983 with a focus on green politics.
The Green Party is currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons by seat count. It el ...
.
Career
Szeman received his B.A. from
Queen's University in 1990 and his M.A. from the
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...
in 1993. He began doctoral studies under
Fredric Jameson
Fredric Jameson (born April 14, 1934) is an American literary critic, philosopher and Marxist political theorist. He is best known for his analysis of contemporary cultural trends, particularly his analysis of postmodernity and capitalism. James ...
at
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
in 1993, where he completed a Ph.D. in Literature in 1998.
Szeman has made contributions to debates in critical theory and cultural studies, as well as globalization, postcolonial, and Canadian studies. His early work explored the relationship between national identity and global modernity in postcolonial literature and the impact of globalization on contemporary political thought.
Szeman is best known for his foundational contributions to the emerging field of “energy humanities,” which applies theories and methods from the humanities to problems of energy production, consumption, and transition. The starting point for this work, and for the analysis of “petroculture,” is Szeman’s question: “What if oil is fundamental to the societies we have now?” Szeman’s work has dealt with the problem of the representation of oil and energy, the ways in which forms of energy shape cultural forms, expectations, and values, and role of the humanities in discussions of
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
and
energy transition
The energy transition is the process of downshifting fossil fuels and re-developing whole systems to operate on low carbon energy sources. More generally, an energy transition is a significant structural change in an energy system regarding ...
. He is an editor of ''Energy Humanities''.
Szeman has authored, edited, or co-edited 23 books, as well as numerous journal and magazine articles, book chapters, and special journal issues. Szeman founded the Canadian Association of Cultural Studies and co-founded the U.S. Cultural Studies Association, Banff Research in Culture, and the Petrocultures Research Group. He has received the John Polanyi Prize in Literature (2000), a Killiam Annual Professorship (2013), the J. Gordin Kaplan Award for Excellence in Research (2015), and the Arts Award for Excellence in Research (U Waterloo).
Publications
Books
*Zones of Instability: Literature, Postcolonialism, and the Nation (
Johns Hopkins University Press
The Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...
, 2003)
*After Globalization (with Eric Cazdyn) (
Wiley-Blackwell
Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publish ...
, 2011)
*Popular Culture: A User’s Guide, 4 Editions (with Susie O’Brien) (Wiley-Blackwell, 2004-2017)
*After Oil. (West Virginia University Press, 2016).
*On Petrocultures: Globalization, Culture, Energy (
West Virginia University Press
West Virginia University Press (WVU Press) is a university press and publisher in the state of West Virginia. A part of West Virginia University, the press publishes books and journals with a particular emphasis on Appalachian studies, history, hi ...
, 2019)
Selected journal articles
*"The Persistence of the Nation: Interdisciplinarity and Canadian Literary Criticism." Essays on Canadian Writing 65 (Fall 1998): 16-37.
*"The Rhetoric of Culture: Some Notes on Magazines, Canadian Culture and Globalization.”
Journal of Canadian Studies
The ''Journal of Canadian Studies'' () is a bilingual peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the Canadian studies, interdisciplinary study of Canada. It is published three times a year by the University of Toronto Press.
Abstracting and inde ...
35.3 (2000): 212-230.
*"Who’s Afraid of National Allegory? Jameson, Literary Criticism, Globalization." South Atlantic Quarterly 100.3 (2001): 801-25.
*“System Failure: Oil, Futurity and the Anticipation of Disaster." South Atlantic Quarterly 106.4 (2007): 805-823.
*“How to Know About Oil: Energy Epistemologies and Political Futures.” Journal of Canadian Studies 47.3 (2013): 145-168.
*“Crude Aesthetics: The Politics of Oil Documentaries.”
Journal of American Studies
The ''Journal of American Studies'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering international perspectives on the history, literature, politics and culture of the United States. It includes a book review section. Though academic in natu ...
46.2 (2012): 423-439.
*“Entrepreneurship as the New Common Sense.” South Atlantic Quarterly 114.3 (2015): 471-490.
*“Conjectures on World Energy Literature.”
Journal of Postcolonial Writing 53.2 (2017): 1-12.
*“Solarity” (with Darin Barney). South Atlantic Quarterly 120.1 (2021): 1-11.
*“Quitting (the) Habit: Fossil Fuels, Governmentality and the Politics of Energy Dependency.” new formations 103 (2021): 63-77.
*“What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Extractivism?” (with Jennifer Wenzel). Textual Practice 35.3 (2021): 505-523.
Selected edited collections
*Pierre Bourdieu: Fieldwork in Culture (with Nicholas Brown) (
Rowman & Littlefield
Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns the book distributing compa ...
, 2000)
*The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism (with Michael Groden and Martin Kreiswirth) (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005).
*Canadian Cultural Studies: A Reader (with Sourayan Mookerjea and Gail Faurschou) (
Duke University Press
Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 Du ...
, 2009)
*Cultural Theory: An Anthology (with Tim Kaposy) (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)
*Energy Humanities: An Anthology (with Dominic Boyer) (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017)
*A Companion to Critical and Cultural Theory with Sarah Blacker and Justin Sully) (Wiley-Blackwell, 2017)
*Fueling Culture: 101 Words for Energy and Environment (with Jennifer Wenzel and Patricia Yaeger) (
Fordham University Press
The Fordham University Press is a publishing house, a division of Fordham University, that publishes primarily in the humanities and the social sciences. Fordham University Press was established in 1907 and is headquartered at the university's Lin ...
, 2017)
*Petrocultures: Oil, Politics, Culture (with Sheena Wilson and Adam Carlson) (
McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2017)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szeman, Imre
1968 births
Living people
Canada Research Chairs
University of Alberta faculty
Queen's University at Kingston alumni
University of Waterloo faculty
McMaster University faculty
University of Western Ontario faculty
Duke University alumni