Sophie Kazan Makhlouf PhD is an Honorary Fellow of the School of Museum Studies at University of Leicester. She teaches art history at the University of Notre Dame USA, in London, supervises Mst theses at University of Cambridge.  Sophie is a passionate advocate for shaping cultural understanding through art. She published articles regularly and her research and focus has been on art and culture from countries in the Global South that challenges Western-centric narratives.

Her book, The Development of An Art History in the UAE – An Art Not Made to Be Understood (Anthem Press, 2024) examines how the UAE’s unique art ecosystem prioritizes local narratives leading to a broader, more inclusive understanding of global art history. She also writes for various art magazines and journals in the UK and the SWANA region, is a member of the Higher Education Committee of the Association for Art History and she is a trustee of Art Voyage Biennial, a new international biennial and nomadic, hybrid fair.

Sophie has also hosted 60 second Art Minute documentaries (https://www.youtube.com/@artminute) on Youtube, to promote accessibility and education in the visual arts.