Steven Hartman

I am Founding Executive Director of the BRIDGES Sustainability Science Coalition in UNESCO’s Management of Social Transformations Programme, based at the BRIDGES Flagship Hub, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University. I am also Visiting Professor in the Faculty of History and Philosophy, University of Iceland. A founding member and longtime coordinator of the Nordic Network for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies (NIES), I also convene the Humanities for the Environment Circumpolar Observatory anchored at the Stefansson Arctic Institute in Akureyri, Iceland. I was awarded the PhD from the State University of New York at Albany (“Faces of Thoreau in American Literature,” 2003) and the Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing (fiction) from the American University (“Horse on Fire,” 1991). I also earned a BA in English literature from Ithaca College (1987).

I have wide-ranging interests. As a scholar and writer I am what used to be called a 'person of letters' in the tradition of the public intellectual. My career has followed a trajectory that would have been very hard to predict when I began my studies of literature, film, writing and criticism more than three decades ago. As an academic I remain firmly grounded in these disciplines, yet in recent years I have also become engaged in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research that builds on the humanities and the arts, the social and environmental sciences, and vital non-academic knowledge communities. This trajectory defines my background and engagement as an academic leader. The arts of fiction writing, poetry (lyric), literary translation and film continue to be central to my professional interests and identity. From this foundation I have branched out to work in the field of integrated environmental humanities on questions concerning global change.

There is virtually no branch of science in which I am not interested, even if I am not equipped to follow the overwhelming majority of them as a specialist, or even as a knowledgeable generalist. I believe our distinct backgrounds—the wide-ranging histories, lived experiences, stories and reservoirs of knowledge that define us as individuals, and as diverse communities of knowledge and practice—are also our greatest resources, collectively speaking, provided we can find ways to communicate and direct them effectively in shared efforts to address the challenges of surviving, living and thriving on the earth in the 21st century.

My personal goal is to continue learning throughout my life, in partnership with as many others—from as many different backgrounds—as possible. I believe in the force-multiplying power of collaboration and the transformative potential of new intentional communities of purpose to help shape a better future for humanity and for the earth, the home and habitat we share with millions of other species.
Phone: +46-(0)730294249
Address: Steven Hartman, Founding Executive Director
BRIDGES Coalition, UNESCO Management of Social Transformations program
BRIDGES Flagship Hub
Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory
Rob & Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health
Arizona State University
1151 S Forest Ave
Tempe, AZ 85281
USA