I am Professor at the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies. My academic background lies in Languages (French and Russian) and Political Theory and my current research interests are in online hate speech, identities and belonging in the context of migration. I have published widely on intercultural dialogue, racism and hate speech, language and heritage, and I have edited three volumes: Multilingualism and Politics (Palgrave, 2020), Intercultural Issues in the Workplace (Palgrave, 2023), and Heimatkunde: Explorations of Place and Belonging (Lit Verlag, 2024). I also coordinate the Migration theme at the Intercultural Research Centre (IRC). 

My research is applied and collaborative. I have led EU-funded projects addressing racism and discrimination, as well as the development of two language and culture apps: one designed to support newly arrived migrants and refugees, and another focused on endangered languages. I have also led two British Academy-funded projects on online hate speech.

I was Visiting Professor at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (2021-2022), where I taught and conducted research in two departments: the Institute of Applied Linguistics, and the Department of Ethnology and Anthropology.

Funded projects

Developing High-impact Research on Language, Culture and Migration: Collaborative Workshops with Women Early Career Researchers in Malaysia 2-year International project (PI: HWU - Strani). Funder: British Academy. Co-Is: Professor Gina Netto, Heriot-Watt University; Dr Lina Fadel, Heriot-Watt University; Professor Noraida Endut, Universiti Sains Malaysia; Professor Salasiah Che Lah, Universiti Sains Malaysia; Dr Siti Nurnadilla Mohamad Jamil, International Islamic University Malaysia.

The project builds on previously developed networks in Malaysia to deliver collaborative writing and mentoring workshops on research publications and grant applications in the intersecting fields of Language, Culture, and Migration. The joint project with two Malaysian universities targets women early career researchers (ECRs) as underrepresented, historically marginalised, and disadvantaged in academic publishing and funding. The workshops and mentoring sessions are designed in an equitable manner which fosters both North-South and South-South collaboration. Experienced academics, including key journal editors, will develop and deliver the workshops, providing targeted feedback and support. This collaboration will result in the formal establishment of a research network, at least one proposal for a journal special issue, a collaborative funding application including one or more of the project partners, and one international webinar. The project's aim is to foster empowered and independent women researchers in Malaysia who will transform our understanding of Language, Culture, and Migration. Value: c. £28,817 [ongoing]

Displaced students' Fair Access to Higher Education in Scotland: 18-month project (PI). Funder: Duolingo English Test. Co-I: Dr Eva Hanna. This project focusses on linguistic barriers and, in particular, the question of equitable access to English-language proficiency assessment, which constitutes a high-stakes gatekeeping mechanism. UN Sustainable Development Goal 4.3 commits to radically increasing access to higher education for displaced and forced-migrant populations by 2030 (UNHCR, 2015). In Scotland, as in the wider UK, prospective students with forced-migration backgrounds continue to face complex legal, financial, informational, bureaucratic, mental-health and linguistic barriers to university entrance. The study involves open-ended questionnaires to map the range of institutional practices and perceived barriers, semi-structured in-depth interviews with key gatekeepers, and a multi-level stakeholder workshop convening academics, professional staff, sector bodies, test providers and third-sector actors. Findings will be synthesised to generate practical, evidence-based recommendations on how language proficiency assessment regimes can be made more inclusive, proportionate and context-sensitive for forced-migrant applicants to higher education in Scotland. Value: c. £73,000 [ongoing]

Online discourse on Ukrainians in the UK and Poland: a comparative study (PI. Funder: British Academy): 2-year project. Co-investigators: Marion Winters (HWU), Anna Sczcepaniak-Kozak (AMU, Poland). Research Assistants: Sabine Bluetgen, Magdalena Jaszczyk-Grzyb. This project builds on a previous BA-funded study on hate speech against Ukrainians in Poland before February 2022. Our study’s aim is to compare online discourse on Ukrainians in the UK and Poland through corpus-assisted discourse studies.
Based on tailor-made and reference corpora, the study uses corpus linguistics methods to identify linguistic and discursive strategies used to portray Ukrainians in two different languages and sociopolitical contexts. While we would expect that the sentiment towards Ukrainians would now be (more) positive, our previous research has found that hateful strategies and tropes against this group persist despite their plight and the ensuing international outcry. Our study will contribute to understanding the mechanisms and strategies of online hate speech to enable both the efficient monitoring of online communication and the development of counterspeech. Value: c. £10,000 (completed).

Understanding Hate to Counter Extremism (PI. Funder: British Academy). 3-month international project (PI: HWU - Strani), with universities in Munich, Poznan and Cyprus. Pilot study to assess the validity and reliability of data mining, concordance analysis and sentiment analysis as a method of identifying hate speech online. Part of the Pump-Priming Collaboration between UK and EU partners programme 2021 of the British Academy. Value: c.£10,000 (completed).

IndyLan - Mobile Virtual Learning for Indigenous Languages (PI and Transnational Coordinator): 26-month EU-funded project with 5 partners from 5 countries led by HWU. IndyLan is developing an app for learning indigenous languages and cultures. The app will include Gaelic, Scots, Cornish, Basque, Galician and (Northern) Saami for those who already speak English, Spanish, Finnish, Russian and Norwegian. Value: c. £186,000 (completed).

InterTrainE - Intercultural Training for Educators (PI and Transnational Coordinator): 27-month EU-funded project led by HWU, with 7 partners. The project aims to develop an intercultural training programme for educators working with adult migrants in the 4 partner countries (UK, Finland, Greece and Italy). Value: c. £243,000 (completed).

Moving Languages (PI for HWU): 27-month EU-funded project with 6 partners. The project developed a language and culture-learning app for new migrants in the 6 partner countries. Value: c. £25,000 (completed).

RADAR – Regulating Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Racism (PI for HWU): 24-month EU-funded project with 9 partners from 6 countries, on the communicative construction of ‘racial’ discrimination through hate communication. The project developed a training package for legal professionals, law enforcement officials and potential victims of racist hate crime. Value: c. £33,000 (completed). 

Katerina is a Member of the Political Studies Association, the International Communications Association, IMISCOE, and the British Association of Applied Linguistics.

Katerina is Head of Department, Languages and Intercultural Studies (LINCS).

Katerina teaches International Politics, Intercultural Issues in Business and Management, and Global Englishes and the International Workplace. She coordinates and teaches the Graduate Apprenticeship course Intercultural Issues in Business and Management.

She is a Chartered Linguist (French, Greek and Russian) and an assessor for the CIoL DipTrans exams.

Katerina is a member of the AHRC Peer Review College and the SOAS Global Council of Anthropological Linguists.

Katerina is leading the Migration Theme at the IRC (Intercultural Research Centre) in LINCS.