Skip to main content

Staff Profile

Dr Angeliki Sifaki

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow

  • Email: angeliki.sifaki@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 7538
  • Address: School of Geography, Politics & Sociology
    Sociology Department Building
    Room B.12
    18-20 Windsor Terrace
    Newcastle University
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE2 4HE, UK
Background

Introduction

I am currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the department of Sociology working on the project HomoPolitics: Greek Homonationalism. I earned my PhD in 2018 from the Graduate Gender Programme of Utrecht University in the Netherlands where I specialised in gender and sexuality studies, education and theories of nationalism.

Background 

I have been dedicated to interdisciplinary research since my undergraduate years. After receiving my BSc (Hons), my RMA (Distinction) and my MA (Distinction) in education studies in Greece, I moved to the Netherlands to obtain my PhD in education, gender and sexuality at the Graduate Gender Programme of Utrecht University. During my PhD studies, I conceived and developed my own research project, entitled “Greek Lesbian Teachers: School, Nation, Family”, the first of its kind and the only one at present to be undertaken within the Greek context. As the title of my thesis indicates, in my PhD research I followed an intersectional and interdisciplinary perspective, bringing together education, gender and sexuality studies, critical race theory and theories of nationalism.

In addition to my PhD project on lesbian teachers in Greece, so far, I have an extensive experience as a Principal Investigator in research projects dealing with ethnic and religious minorities and educational inequalities. For example, I coordinated the project “Education of the Muslim Minority Children in Thrace” for two years for which I conducted in-depth ethnographic research in Thrace, a complex area in the northern part of Greece, near the borders with Bulgaria and Turkey.  Through this extensive research experience, I have developed a sound and well-rounded understanding of structural inequalities and unequal power relations regarding the interactions between the national majorities and their ethnic and religious “others”.

Throughout these years, I have developed a track record of communicating my research with the presentation of my findings at many conferences and workshops across Europe (e.g. Greece, the Netherlands, the UK, Sweden, Germany, Croatia, Finland, etc.). I have also been invited to give keynotes, I have published in peer-reviewed journals, edited volumes and conference proceedings, and I have translated into Greek the Nomadic Subjects: Embodiment and Sexual Difference in Contemporary Feminist Theory by Rosi Braidotti (Nissos, 2014). I have also gained experience communicating my research with the non-scientific community through mass media (newspaper, radio, online media sources).

Qualifications

  • PhD, Graduate Gender Programme, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
  • MA, University of Athens, Greece 
  • RMA, University of Patras, Greece 
  • BA (Hons), University of Patras, Greece

Previous Positions

  • 2018 Research Assistant for Terra Critica (Interdisciplinary Network for the Critical Humanities), Utrecht University, the Netherlands
  • 2018 Teaching Assistant, Research Master Course: “Gender and Social Inclusion: Affective Labor, Welfare-States and Feminist Interventions”, Graduate Gender Programme, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
  • 2012 Temporary Lecturer, BA Courses: “Research Methodologies” and “Critical Pedagogy”, Department of Primary Education, University of Patras, Greece
  • 2012 Researcher, Project “Education for Immigrant and Repatriated Students”, University of Thessaly and Greek Ministry of Education, Greece
  • 2011 Researcher, Project “Education for Immigrant and Repatriated Students”, University of Thessaly and Greek Ministry of Education, Greece
  • 2010-2012 Principal Investigator, Project “Education of the Muslim Minority Children in Thrace”, University of Thessaloniki and Greek Ministry of Education, Greece 
  • 2010 Researcher & Principal Editor of Educational Material for Secondary Schools, Project “Education of the Muslim Minority Children in Thrace”, University of Athens and Greek Ministry of Education, Greece 

Editorial and Reviewing Responsibilities

  • Editor: “Teaching with Gender” Book Series, AtGender & Routledge
  • Reviewer: Feminist Theory, SAGE Journals
  • Reviewer: Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies (Dutch academic journal for gender studies)

Memberships

  • Elected Board Member of AtGender (The European Association for Gender Research, Education and Documentation)
  • Member of NOG (Netherlands Research School of Gender Studies)
  • Member of InterGender (Research School in Interdisciplinary Gender Studies)

Languages

  • Greek (Native)
  • English (Fluent, Proficiency, University of Cambridge)
  • French (Advanced, D.E.L.F. 1er Degré, Le Ministre de l’ Éducation Nationale de la République Française)

Research

Current Research

I am currently working on two projects:

  • HomoPolitics: I am the principal investigator of the Horizon2020 project Greek Homonationalism: Entanglement of Sexual Politics with Issues of Race and Nationalism in the Case of Lesbian and Gay Movements and Queer Activist Groups in Greece. Through the use of innovative qualitative methodologies, the project asks: what narratives, images, symbols and representations do Greek lesbian and gay movements and queer activist groups utilise in order to assert their rights to citizenship and who is left out of the imagined “us” they construct?   
  • Monograph: I am preparing my first monograph, Greek Lesbian Teachers: School, Nation, Family, which is based on my PhD thesis. This work is the first to engage with the subjectivity of Greek lesbian teachers and provides an interview-based analysis of the life narratives of seventeen lesbian women who work within the Greek educational system. It asks how Greek lesbian teachers construct their subjectivities and negotiate their sexuality in relation to the different social contexts in which they are situated.   

Research Interests

My research and expertise are in the fields of gender and sexuality studies, theories of nationalism, research methodologies and critical pedagogy. 

Supervision

I would be particularly interested in supervising PhD candidates working in any of my research areas, especially those with an interdisciplinary focus.

Funding Received

  • 2019 H2020-MSCA-IF-2018 (212,933.76 euros)
  • 2018 Cultures, Citizenship, and Human Rights Research Grant for writing a Postdoctoral Proposal, Utrecht University, the Netherlands  (5,000 euros)
  • 2013-2016 A.G. Leventis Foundation’s 3-year Research Grant for Post-Graduate Studies (15,000 euros in total)
  • 2010-2013 Fellowship for Post-Graduate Studies by the State Scholarships Foundation of Greece (48,600 euros in total)
  • 1997-1998 Latsis Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship for Exceptional Performance during the Pan-hellenic exams (1,000 euros)

Travel Grants

  • 2013 InterGender Course: “Sex Machines: Politicising Contemporary Sexual Pleasure”, Linköping University, Sweden (22-24 October)
  • 2013 InterGender Course: “Studying Feminist Thinkers and Texts”, University of Helsinki, Finland (10-12 September)
  • 2012 “Journées Hubert Curien”, Hubert Curien Post-Graduate Travel Grant and Attendance Fellowship, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France (2-7 September)
  • 2012 “Leadership for Peacemaking: How to Overcome Prejudice with Dignity”, Post-Graduate travel Grant and Attendance Fellowship, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey (19-21 June) 
Teaching

Modules

I am not currently teaching. In previous academic years I contributed lectures and seminars in the fields of gender and sexuality studies, theories of nationalism, research methodologies and critical pedagogy.


Publications