Sara is a PhD candidate in the Department of International Relations at LSE who researches at the intersection of transnational politics, aesthetics, and resistance. Specifically, her doctoral research focuses on the experiences of artists exiled from Myanmar within the context of the wider cultural movements in which they are situated, as well as broader regional entanglements across Asia. Theoretically, she draws on postcolonial theory, anticolonial surrealist thought, and cultural studies. Sara utilises ethnography, relational interviewing, and other qualitative interpretive methods throughout her research. She also has a practice-led methodological component, which leverages (auto)ethnography and curation. As part of this, she curated 'Not another protest exhibition' at the LSE's Atrium Gallery in February 2024.
Sara’s teaching related to qualitative field methods was awarded an LSE Summer School Class Teacher Award and she was also a recipient of a Highly Commended Class Teacher Award for her teaching on International Political Theory. Her paper “Towards an anticolonial aesthetic politics: surrealist praxis & epistemic refusal” was awarded BISA’s Colonial, Postcolonial and Decolonial (CPD) 2024 ECR Runner Up Prize.
Sara was a PhD co-organiser for the Doing International Political Sociology (IPS) London PhD Seminar Series from 2023-2024. She also served as Deputy Editor of Millennium: Journal of International Studies, Vol 52. Her doctoral research is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s LAHP Doctoral Training Partnership.
Previously, Sara worked on a variety of international research projects utilising arts-based methods to explore experiences of conflict, humanitarian crisis, migration, and displacement. Sara holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Minnesota and an MSc in Development Studies (with Distinction) from SOAS, University of London.
Research topic
Aesthetic resistance and surrealist praxis beyond the nation-state
Teaching experience
- POL113: Politics in Action (QMUL)
- IR200: International Political Theory (LSE)
- ME305: Qualitative Field Methods (LSE Summer School)
Academic supervisor
Professor William A Callahan
Dr Katharine Millar
Dr Holly Eva Ryan (QMUL)
Research Cluster affiliation
Theory/Area/History Research Cluster