Mandy Sadan

Professor Mandy Sadan is a globally recognized scholar specializing in Southeast Asian history, anthropology, and cultural heritage. She holds a Professorship at the University of Warwick’s Department of Global Sustainable Development (GSD), having joined in August 2020. Previously, she was a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford School of Global & Area Studies (OSGA) and affiliated with St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. Her academic journey includes roles at SOAS University of London (2008–2018) and extensive fieldwork in Myanmar’s Kachin region.

Education:

• BA (Hons) Modern History, University of Oxford
• MA Art History & Archaeology, SOAS University of London
• PhD History, SOAS University of London
• PGCert ODE (Technology Enhanced Learning), Open University
• PGCE Post-Compulsory Education, Oxford Brookes University

Research Interests: Mandy Sadan’s work bridges history, anthropology, and development studies, focusing on Myanmar’s border regions. She explores cultural heritage’s role in community well-being, oral history methodologies, and interdisciplinary approaches to sustainable development. Her Leverhulme Trust-funded research (2022–2025) examines the socio-cultural history of ultra-processed foods in the UK, linking war, technology, and flavor change.

Key Projects:

• Rare Earths in the Just Transition (British Academy, £94k)
• Sustainable Lives in Scarred Landscapes (British Academy GCRF, £300k)
• Drugs and (Dis)order (ESRC GCRF, £7.2M)

Awards: Her book Being and Becoming Kachin won the EuroSEAS Nikkei Asian Review Prize (2015). She also received a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship (2017–2018) for research on Burma’s Frontier Areas Administration.

Teaching & Supervision: While currently on research leave, she has supervised numerous PhD students on Myanmar’s history, anthropology, and development. Future supervision will resume post-2026.

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with Kachinland Research Centre (Myanmar), Yunnan University, and international partners on projects addressing resource extraction, drug economies, and cultural heritage preservation.