Sarah E.K. Smith is a scholar and curator whose research explores contemporary art and museums, with an interest in how artworks and institutions provide a lens to address cultural diplomacy, cultural labour, and cultural policies.

An Associate Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University, Sarah also holds the Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Art, Culture and Global Relations. As CRC, Sarah is undertaking a program of research addressing cultural diplomacy. This work builds on her efforts as a founding member of the North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative (NACDI) and her contributions as a member of the International Cultural Relations Research Alliance (ICRRA). 

Sarah has taught at Carleton University, OCAD University, Queen’s University, and the University of Southern California—where she held the 2015 Canada-US Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Public Diplomacy. She maintains an active independent curatorial practice and previously worked as Curator of Contemporary Art at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. She is currently contributing to Western University’s Centre for Sustainable Curating and is a member of the Academics & Research Team for the Idaho Museum of International Diaspora.