Katerina is Associate Professor and Head of the Cultural Studies section at the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies. Her background is in Languages and Political Theory and her PhD thesis (2011) focused on communicative rationality in the public sphere. She has published papers on intercultural dialogue, racism and hate speech, language and heritage, as well as two edited volumes: Multilingualism and Politics (Palgrave, 2020); and Intercultural Issues in the Workplace (Palgrave, 2023).

Katerina has led EU-funded projects on racism and discrimination, and two language and culture apps, for newly arrived migrants and refugees, and for endangered languages. She has also led British Academy-funded projects on online hate speech.

Katerina is leading the Migration theme at the Intecultural Research Centre (IRC). She was Visiting Professor at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (2021-2022).

Funded projects

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 proposed 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 [ongoing]

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 University Association of Contemporary European Studies.

Katerina is Head of the Cultural Studies section in LINCS.

She coordinates the Global course (taught in HWU campuses in Edinburgh, Dubai and Malaysia) Intercultural Issues in Business and Management. She is also Year 1 coordinator.

She teaches International Politics, Society and Institutions in Contemporary Europe, Intercultural Issues in Business and Management (to UG students and to Graduate Apprentices), and French Conference Interpreting.

As of August 2019, Katerina is also a member of Senate.

She is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (French, Greek and Russian) and she is an assessor for IoLET DipTrans exams.

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