Susan Jahoda was born in Manchester, England and received her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. She works in a range of genres including video, sound, photography, text, performance, and installation. Her works have been exhibited widely, including venues in London, Paris, Venice, Basel, Seoul, Russia, Rome, and New York. Additionally, she has received grants from the National Endowment of the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts and The Trust for Mutual Understanding. Jahoda has co-curated a number of exhibitions and screenings including Martha Rosler Library, an E-flux project in collaboration with Martha Rosler and Beyond the Instance of an Ending, (2009), Setting in Motion (2006), and Global Priority (2002), with the intent of bringing together a varied group of international individuals engaged in critical artistic practice. She has also published short stories and essays including "Spring Flowers," in Class and its Others, University of Minnesota Press, (2000) and “Theatres of Madness,” in Deviant Bodies, Indiana University Press, (1995). In 1993 Jahoda began serving as the arts editor for the journal Rethinking Marxism, a position that has enabled her to collaborate with other artists and writers on numerous projects.
In addition to her work as a visual artist, curator and editor, Jahoda taught at Princeton University, (1981-86), The Museum School of Fine Arts, (1986-87), and Sarah Lawrence College, (1987-88). In 1989 she began teaching at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she is currently a professor in the Department of Art, Architecture, and Art History. Other teaching affiliations include serving as a visiting artist for the Graduate Program in Photography at The Rhode Island School of Design, (2003-08), and as visiting faculty at the International Center of Photography, (1981-present). Jahoda resides in New York City.