Biography

Imre Szeman is the Director of the Institute for Environment, Conservation, and Sustainability at the University of Toronto Scarborough, where he also serves as Professor of Human Geography. He holds a Ph.D. from Duke University and focuses his teaching and research on energy humanities, environmental studies, and social and political philosophy. He is a co-founder of the Petrocultures Research Group and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Collaboration with the LIP

Imre Szeman’s visit aims to foster a new and meaningful dialogue between French-speaking researchers and the emerging field of Energy Humanities, which remains underrepresented in France. His presence is part of the preparatory process for the international symposium "Bright or Bleak Solarities", scheduled for October 2025 at ENS de Lyon, which will explore the social, political, and cultural dimensions of energy transition. As a leading figure in this field and Director of the Institute for Environment at the University of Toronto, Szeman’s contribution is of strategic importance: in addition to bringing a unique international perspective, he will help introduce anglophone scholarship still largely unknown in the French academic context, while deepening discussions on the phase-out of fossil fuels and the sustainability of solar energy. His stay in March 2025 will serve as a key moment for training, scientific debate, and networking among researchers, doctoral students, and actors involved in the energy transition.

Major publications

• Imre Szeman, Futures of the Sun: The Struggle Over Renewable Life. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 2024.
• Imre Szeman. On Petrocultures: Globalization, Culture, and Energy. West Virginia UP, 2019. Chinese translation (trans. Jiannan Tang), 2024. 288 pages.
• Imre Szeman and Susie O’Brien. Popular Culture: A User’s Guide. International edition. Wiley-Blackwell, 2017. 422 pages. Four previous editions: 2003, 2009, 2013.
• Imre Szeman and the Petrocultures Research Group. After Oil. West Virginia UP, 2016. 78 pages. Persian translation (trans. Roya Khoshnevis), Shirazeh Publisher, 2024.
• Eric Cazdyn and Imre Szeman, After Globalization. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. Paperback edition, 2012. 257 pages.
• Imre Szeman. Zones of Instability: Literature, Postcolonialism and the Nation. Johns Hopkins UP, 2003. 264 pages.
• Imre Szeman and Dominic Boyer, eds. Energy Humanities: An Anthology. Johns Hopkins UP, 2017. 616 pages.
• Imre Szeman, Jennifer Wenzel and Patricia Yaeger, eds., Fueling Culture: 101 Words for Energy and Environment. Fordham UP, 2017. 456 pages.
• Michael Groden, Martin Kreiswirth and Imre Szeman, eds., The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism. Second Edition. Johns Hopkins UP, 2005. 1008 double columned pages.