Sarah James

Professor Sarah James is a leading scholar in Visual Culture at the Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University. Holding a PhD from the Courtauld Institute, her career spans academic appointments at UCL, University of Oxford, and others, alongside curatorial roles like Senior Curator of Exhibitions at Tate Liverpool (2022-2023). Her research focuses on Cold War visual cultures, East German art, Frankfurt School theory, and contemporary art’s engagement with climate and decolonial frameworks.

Educations:

• B.A. Social and Political Sciences & History of Art, King’s College, Cambridge (2001)
• M.A. Contemporary British Art, Courtauld Institute (2002)
• PhD History of Art, Courtauld Institute (2007)

Research interests include:

• Cold War photographic exchanges and propaganda
• East German experimental art and resistance practices
• Climate catastrophe and nuclearity in contemporary art
• Frankfurt School critiques of modernity
• Curatorial methodologies linking historical and present-day social struggles

Key achievements:

• Curate Turner Prize 2022 at Tate Liverpool
• Co-lead 'Anti-Social Art' exhibition (Tweed Museum, 2022)
• Monographs: Paper Revolutions (MIT Press, 2022) and Common Ground (Yale UP, 2013)
• Fellowships from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Paul Mellon Centre

Grants & Collaborations: Works with HKW Berlin, Reina Sofia Madrid, and MoMA NYC on transnational research projects. Advises on art education reforms and eco-socialist curricula.