Sophie Harman

Sophie is Professor of International Politics and a BAFTA-nominated film producer.

She is interested in visual method and the politics of seeing, global health politics, African agency, and the politics of conspicuously invisible women.

Her research has reflected these interests through projects on Global Health Governance, the World Bank and HIV/AIDS, partnerships in health in Africa, the 2014/15 Ebola response, the governance of HIV/AIDS, and her recent film project, Pili. These interests have informed her teaching on the modules Global Health Politics, Africa and International Relations, and Global Governance.

Sophie’s teaching and research draws on her extensive fieldwork experience in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Zambia, and the global health and international political economy hubs of Geneva, Washington DC and New York.

In addition to her research and teaching, she is Visiting Professor at HEARD, University of KwaZulu-Natal, and acts as mentor as part of various QM and external initiatives. She was pivotal in establishing the British International Studies Association (BISA) Global Health Working Group. She has consulted to WHO and UNDP.

Sophie was awarded the Joni Lovenduski Prize for outstanding professional achievement by a mid-career scholar by the Political Science Association (PSA) in 2018, the Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2018, and nominated for the BAFTA for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer in 2019 for her work on Pili.

Sophie began her academic career with a PhD at the University of Manchester. She then went on to posts in CSGR, University of Warwick, and the Department of International Politics, City University, before joining QMUL in 2012.

She is currently on research leave in 2019/20.