Dr James Burford is a Reader in Education Studies. He joined Warwick in 2021 following academic posts at La Trobe University in Australia and Thammasat University in Thailand. James is the co-founder and Deputy Director of the Doctoral Education and Academia Research Centre (DEAR). James currently serves (alongside Richard Smith) as the Director of Research Culture within the School of Education, Learning and Communication Sciences (SELCS). 

James' research and teaching is located in the fields of International Higher Education and Critical University Studies. He has researched and published in a wide range of areas, including researcher development and doctoral education, academic subjectivities, educational im/mobilities, the global politics of knowledge production and sexuality and gender in education. James is a Pakeha New Zealander living in the UK.

James co-Chairs the IDERN International Doctoral Education Research Network steering committee, is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, and an elected trustee of the UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) the UK's representative body for postgraduate education and research. 

James holds a BA in Political Science from Canterbury University, a Master of Development Studies degree from Victoria University of Wellington (VUW-funded), and a PhD in Education from the University of Auckland (UoA-funded). James received the NZARE Sutton-Smith award for his doctoral research.