Dr Lola Salem is an academic, cultural strategist, and fundraiser working in education, culture, and the arts. Trained at the Maîtrise de Radio France (2005-10), she graduated from the École Normale Supérieure (Musicology) and the Sorbonne (Aesthetics and Philosophy of Arts), and completed her D.Phil. at the University of Oxford in 2022, researching opera business, singers, economic, and legal history in the 17th- and 18th-century.
A Lecturer in Music at the University of Oxford since 2018, she joined Oriel College’s staff in 2022. In 2023, she was awarded a Marshall Research Fellowship and a Civic Future Fellowship. Since then, she has devoted her time to examining artistic institutions, governance, and cultural policy.
She is currently preparing a book, Artless (Polity), on the anatomy of the post-cultural state, and leads The UnSeen, a research project for the campaign group Freedom in the Arts. Her work includes media appearances, lectures, and publications on platforms such as The Critic, The Telegraph, Engelsberg Ideas, CapX, The Catholic Herald, BBC Radio 3, and the Battle of Ideas.
Lolas has worked as Head of Development at the Canterbury Institute, Oxford (2021–23), as Business Development Partner at The Critic (2024–26), and has independently fundraised for policy projects in France and in Britain since 2016. She’s also supported academic programmes across Europe and the US, including the Academia Tocqueville, the Pascal Instituut, and Ralston College.
