Hirbod Human is an Iranian-American award-winning author, filmmaker, philosopher, and artist whose work examines human experience through culture, aesthetics, memory, material life, and embodied perception. Rather than being defined by a single discipline, Human is becoming known as a scholar of human experience and culture who uses literature, film, visual art, research, design, and curatorial practice as complementary methods of inquiry.

Across his work, Human investigates how people come to perceive, believe, remember, and make meaning within the cultural systems that surround them. His projects move between studio practice, documentary media, publishing, public humanities, and academic research, yet they remain connected by a shared inquiry into the forces that shape human life—the body, the image, the object, the environment, the institution, and the story.

He is a Ph.D. candidate in Design, Aesthetics, and the Arts at Florida Atlantic University, affiliated with the Center for Body, Mind, and Culture, where he conducts research under the mentorship of philosopher Richard Shusterman. His scholarship explores embodied aesthetics, pragmatist philosophy, atmosphere, and the cultural mechanisms through which material conditions and context influence perception, belief, and lived experience.

Human approaches art as a form of philosophical and cultural research. Working with found objects, discarded systems, everyday materials, and conceptual interventions, he examines how objects and environments silently shape values, attention, and human behavior. Rather than treating artworks as isolated aesthetic objects, his practice invites viewers to reconsider the frameworks through which meaning is constructed and experienced.

Alongside his visual practice, Human writes, directs, and produces documentary films, podcasts, and public humanities projects that translate complex philosophical ideas into accessible cultural experiences. His work seeks to bridge scholarship and public life, making humanities research available through storytelling, exhibitions, film, conversation, and participatory encounters.

As an author, Human published Last Moments: The Dark Shadows of Protest in Iran, which was named a Finalist in the 2026 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in Regional Fiction. His writing has also received recognition from Publishers Weekly as an Editor’s Pick and from Readers’ Favorite. His literary work explores themes of memory, justice, political violence, identity, and the enduring resilience of the human spirit.

His scholarly work has received international recognition, including the Emerging Scholar Award at the 20th International Conference on Design Principles and Practices. His doctoral research has been supported through competitive fellowships, including the Newell Doctoral Fellowship, Graduate Access Fellowship, and the Art and Letters Fellowship Award.

Before returning to academia, Human spent two decades in entrepreneurship and cultural branding. In 2006, he founded TRIXMEDIA, a branding and consulting firm based in Beverly Hills, leading projects for international clients including Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and Hilton Hotels. In 2016, he was selected as one of thirty-three entrepreneurs from the western United States for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program and holds professional certifications in business consulting, education, and entrepreneurship.

His cultural work also includes institutional leadership and curatorial practice. He founded Mayten’s Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto, contributed to The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery and other arts organizations, and serves on the founding Board of Advisors of Authors AI and Binge Books. He is also a member of the Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC).

Committed to public humanities and human rights education, Human is a certified Human Rights Educator through the U.S. Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights and has produced Farsi-language radio programs focused on civic awareness and rights education. Across his books, films, exhibitions, research, and curatorial projects, he continues to explore how culture and aesthetics shape human experience, seeking to connect rigorous scholarship with creative practice and meaningful public engagement.