I was originally trained in sociology (PhD Durham 1975), and wrote a number of books on classical social theory (e.g. Marx’s Method, 1978; The Violence of Abstraction, 1986; Capitalism and Modernity, 1990) and state formation (The Great Arch, with Philip Corrigan, 1985). Latterly I have used modern Czech history, and especially the modern history of the city of Prague, as a laboratory in which to explore the many-sidedness of "the modern condition," focusing in particular on cultural history, including architecture, music, and the visual arts (The Coasts of Bohemia, 1998; Prague, Capital of the Twentieth Century, 2013).
Professor Sayer is interested in supervising PhDs in twentieth-century art, architecture, and photography; historical memory and social identity; social, cultural, and aesthetic theories of modernity; surrealism; and modern Czech history.
HIST351, How the Camera Changed the World
HIST414, Advanced Cultural History (Art and Politics between the World Wars)
HIST 526, Historical Methods for the Arts and Social Sciences
I have recently published a large book with Princeton University Press entitled Prague, Capital of the Twentieth Century: A Surrealist History. The research for this project was supported by the Canada Research Chairs program, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
My wider research interests include social and cultural theory, especially classical social theory (Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Simmel) and French poststructuralism; the history and sociology of "modernity"; visual culture, especially modern art, architecture, and photography; surrealist thought; and issues of historical "memory".
Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (1990)
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1994)
Professor Emeritus (Canada Research Chair), University of Alberta
2009-11. Royal Society/British Academy. Newton International Fellowship (Dariusz Gafijczuk). £99,000 for project The Ruins of Mitteleuropa. UK academic sponsor.
2008-9. Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Research Leave (two terms). £33,000 to work on Prague, Capital of the Twentieth Century.
2001-5. Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI). $125,000 to establish Visual Culture Research Laboratory at University of Alberta.
2000-3. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Interdisciplinary Studies Committee. $24,000 for project The Arts of Modernity.
1996-9. SSHRC, History Committee. $35,000 for project Prague and Modernity.
1991-94. SSHRC, Sociology Committee. $47,000 for project Prague 1848-1990.
1986-8. British Academy. £10,000 for project Bastardy in English History.
2000-5. Canada Research Chair in Social Theory and Cultural Studies, University of Alberta
1988-2000. Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta
1986-8. Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta
1979-86. Lecturer in Sociology, University of Glasgow
1978-9. Lecturer in Sociology, Glasgow College of Technology
1975-8. SSRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Durham.
Visiting positions: University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania (1981-3); Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (1986); Czech Academy of Sciences (1991-3)
Managing editor (with Dr Yoke-Sum Wong), Journal of Historical Sociology, Wiley-Blackwell, quarterly since 1988 (http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0952-1909)
Camera Historica (public portal for HIST 351 How the Camera Changed the World)
CoastsofBohemia (personal blog)
