Haverford College's Center for Peace and Global Citizenship (CPGC) will get a new leader on Sept. 1, when Eric Hartman becomes its new executive director. Hartman comes to Haverford from the Staley School of Leadership Studies at the College of Education at Kansas State University, where he is an assistant professor, and replaces Parker Snowe '79, who has served as the CPGC's executive director for nine years.  

"I'm excited to have the opportunity to fill a position that will draw on faculty sensibilities and administrative experience to advance global learning and address pressing social issues," says Hartman.  

He earned his Ph.D. in international and public affairs from the University of Pittsburgh, where he wrote a dissertation on “Educating for Global Citizenship Through Service-Learning: A Curricular Account and Theoretical Evaluation.” In addition to his current faculty appointment at Kansas State, he is also the editor and co-founder of Globalsl.org, a field-building space at the nexus of global learning, cooperative development, and community-university partnership, and the founder and director of the Global Engagement Survey, a multi-institutional global learning evaluation and research initiative.

"Eric is an excellent fit for Haverford because he is a scholar, educator, mentor, and program leader for community engagement and service learning," says Haverford Provost Fran Blase. "He has an informed, creative vision and works collaboratively with faculty, students, and staff to realize meaningful partnerships and projects in the global, national and local communities. He inspires, engages, and educates when merging the theoretical with the experiential." 

"Eric brings an extensive set of networks of scholars and practitioners working to promote social justice through research, policy, and community engagement throughout the globe," says Professor of Economics Anne Preston, who co-chaired his search committee. "His knowledge of and existing relationships with these contacts will allow the Center to enhance the existing programs and to engage new areas of service."

The CPGC is one of the College's three academic centers. Its mission is to integrate innovative scholarship and responsible civic engagement into the work and lives of the Haverford community, advancing the College's long-standing commitment to peace and social justice through research, education, and action. Its myriad programs—from sponsoring internships, post-baccalaureate fellowships, and research to service learning trips—serve as a bridge between the classroom and the world at large.                                                                                                                        

Hartman, for his part, plans to continue the breadth and quality of the Center's existing programming, while further exploring what it means to be engaged with "global" issues, which, he notes, are not just international ones, but also domestic topics in today's interconnected world.   

"Along with the college community, I'd like to further explore how we understand [the word] 'global,' and how our domestic and international partnerships deepen academic learning across the curriculum," says Hartman, who looks forward to being able to engage students in the classroom in addition to his duties running the CPGC. "There are clear opportunities for further collaboration with the programs in Environmental Studies, Health Studies, and Peace, Justice, and Human Rights. But I'm also excited to cooperate with faculty and students from all disciplines who are willing to engage the moral imagination and rigorous analysis necessary to advance global citizenship."

-Rebecca Raber