Dr Sam Coombes is Senior Lecturer and member of the Department of European Languages and Cultures, having previously taught at Nanterre University (2001-7) whilst completing postgraduate studies at Oxford University. 

He has worked extensively on existentialist philosophy (Sartre in particular), and political philosophy both anglophone, francophone and continental. Since completing The Early Sartre and Marxism (Lang, 2008, 340pp.), Commonwealth and francophone postcolonial studies have become a focus of his research as have questions pertaining to immigrant communities in both Britain and France. He has published widely on these subjects in both French and anglophone refereed journals. His forthcoming book with Bloomsbury, due out in autumn 2018, relates contemporary postcolonial theory to alter-globalization theory. 

Sam Coombes is on the editorial board of the online journal The Literary Encyclopedia.

Sam Coombes’ main research interests lie in the field of twentieth-century and contemporary political thought, postcolonial studies, globalization studies and sociology.

Research activity

Questions of identity, universalism and ethics in contemporary theoretical and literary writing in the context of economic and cultural globalisation are a key focus of his current research.

• 20th Century  Political Thought (Final-Year Option)
• Politics and Institutions of Contemporary Britain and France in the Era of Globalisation
• Teaching, dissertation supervision and examining for the MSc in European Studies, the MSc in Transatlanticism and the MSc in Translation Studies.
• From September 2011: MSc in European Studies course coordinator.