Szeman received his B.A. from Queen's University in 1990 and his M.A. from the University of Western Ontario in 1993. He began doctoral studies under Fredric Jameson at Duke University in 1993, where he completed a Ph.D. in Literature in 1998. Szeman has made significant 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 “,” 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?” Starting from this insight, 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 and energy transition. Szeman has authored, edited, or co-edited 23 books, as well as numerous journal and magazine articles, book chapters, and special journal issues. He is also a sought-after speaker around the world. Szeman founded the Canadian Association of Cultural Studies and co-founded the U.S. Cultural Studies Association, Banff Research in Culture, and the . He has received several awards, including the John Polanyi Prize in Literature, a Killiam Annual Professorship, and the J. Gordin Kaplan Award for Excellence in Research.
Publications
Books Zones of Instability: Literature, Postcolonialism, and the Nation After Globalization Popular Culture: A User’s Guide, 4 Editions .. On Petrocultures: Globalization, Culture, Energy Selected Journal Articles "The Persistence of the Nation: Interdisciplinarity and Canadian Literary Criticism." Essays on Canadian Writing 65 : 16-37. "The Rhetoric of Culture: Some Notes on Magazines, Canadian Culture and Globalization.” Journal of Canadian Studies 35.3 : 212-230. "Who’s Afraid of National Allegory? Jameson, Literary Criticism, Globalization." South Atlantic Quarterly 100.3 : 801-25. "What’s Left of the Dialectic? A Polemic” English Studies in Canada 29.1 : 16-25. “System Failure: Oil, Futurity and the Anticipation of Disaster." South Atlantic Quarterly 106.4 : 805-823. “Marxist Literary Criticism, Then and Now.” Mediations 24.2 : 36-47. “How to Know About Oil: Energy Epistemologies and Political Futures.” Journal of Canadian Studies 47.3 : 145-168. “Crude Aesthetics: The Politics of Oil Documentaries.” Journal of American Studies 46.2 : 423-439. “Entrepreneurship as the New Common Sense.” South Atlantic Quarterly 114.3 : 471-490. “Conjectures on World Energy Literature.” Journal of Postcolonial Writing 53.2 : 1-12. Selected Edited Collections Pierre Bourdieu: Fieldwork in Culture The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism . Canadian Cultural Studies: A Reader Cultural Theory: An Anthology Energy Humanities: An Anthology Contemporary Marxist Theory: An Anthology A Companion to Critical and Cultural Theory with Sarah Blacker and Justin Sully) Fueling Culture: 101 Words for Energy and Environment Petrocultures: Oil, Politics, Culture The Bloomsbury Companion to Marx
