About
Sara is a PhD candidate in the Department of International Relations at LSE who researches at the intersection of international politics, aesthetics, and culture.
Dissertation title
Art in exile: the politics of contemporary resistance art from post-coup Myanmar
Sara's doctoral research focuses on the experiences and work of artists and cultural producers exiled from Myanmar. Her research draws on postcolonial theory, anticolonial surrealist thought, and cultural studies. Her work utilises ethnographic and interpretive methods to explore broader themes of power, hegemony, culture and diaspora. She also uses a practice-led methodology, which leverages (auto)ethnography and curation.
Her 2025 paper, now published in Review of International Studies, titled "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.
Academic supervisors
Dr Holly Eva Ryan (QMUL)
Research Cluster affiliation
Theory/Area/History Research Cluster
Expertise
Arts and culture, Asia, Migration, Politics, Refugees and displacement
Teaching
Teaching experience
- POL113: Politics in Action (QMUL)
- IR200: International Political Theory (LSE)
- ME305: Qualitative Field Methods (LSE Summer School)
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.
Engagement and impact
Sara curated 'Not another protest exhibition' at the LSE's Atrium Gallery in February 2024, which was shortlisted for an LSE Impact Award for Outstanding PhD Researcher Impact. The show was a 4-week long public visual art exhibition featuring the artwork of the multidisciplinary artist, Chuu Wai. The exhibition resulted in the acquisition of a painting by the British Museum’s permanent collection in their Asia Department.