Research and Teaching

I am currently a Lecturer in Sociology at Anglia Ruskin University and a final-year PhD Researcher (part-time) in Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham (thesis status: awaiting submission).

Research Overview

My research focuses on border violence, death and forced migration on EUrope’s East Mediterranean migratory route. Using ethnographic methods which include documentary photography, observation, and unstructured interviews I employ a necropolitical theoretical framework to examine the experiences of people on the move in relation to the shifting nature of the violent border in EUrope; their connection to death and the liminal spaces of mortality; and EUrope’s border security practices.

My wider research interests, activities and experience include: Critical Border Studies, Forced Migration, Death Studies, Ethnography, European and Greek Politics, Gender and Feminism, Media Studies and journalism, Conspiracy Theories, Documentary Photography.

Teaching Practice

I have been teaching in academic settings since January 2020. I have been working as a Lecturer in Sociology at Anglia Ruskin University since 2024 where I have taught/ teach the following modules: Critical Social Thought (2nd year undergraduate) (2024), Nationalisms, Diasporas, Identities (MA) (2024), Mobilities and Migration (2nd year undergraduate) (2025), Intoxicants and Intoxication (2nd year undergraduate) (2025) and Environment, Nature and Society (3rd year undergraduate) (2025).

I have taught introductory modules on Political Economy, International Relations, and Politics at the University of Birmingham.

Selected Publications

(the list does not include forthcoming publications)

Books

Karakoulaki, M., Southgate L. and Steiner J. (eds) (2018), Critical Perspectives on Migration in the 21st Century, E-IR Publishing.

Book Chapters

• Karakoulaki, M. (2020), Abortion and the Law, in F. Bernat and K. Frailing (eds), Encyclopaedia of Women and Crime, Wiley.

• Karakoulaki, M. (2018) Europe’s Barbwire Fences. Reflections on Reporting the Refugee Crisis in Greece. In M. Karakoulaki, L. Southgate, and J. Steiner, Critical Perspectives on Migration in the 21st Century, E-IR Publishing.

Reports

• Karakoulaki, M. and Dessi, G. (2021), Antisemitism and Anti-Vax Discourse in Europe. A Report on Conspiracy Ideologies and anti-Jewish hatred on Facebook and Twitter. Media Diversity Institute.
• Karakoulaki, M. (2019), Cyprus: Towards an Asylum Crisis, PRIO Cyprus Centre, Policy Brief 1. Nicosia: PRIO Cyprus Centre.

Selected Conference Papers

• 18-20 June 2024
  Presentation Title: The Visuals of Death: Researching the Greek Migratory Landscape, BISA, Birmingham, UK

• 28-30 April 2022
  Presentation Title: A Political Thanatos: Migratory Deaths in the Greek Borderlands, Thanatic Ethics, International Conference, ‘Bodies on the Edge: Life and Death in Migration in Maison Française of Oxford, Oxford, UK’.

• May 2021
  Presentation Title: Journalism and Vulnerable Communities: Lessons from Reporting Refugees’ Stories, Graduate Centre for Europe: 15th Annual Conference, University of Birmingham, ‘Communities in Europe: Between Continuity and Transition’.

• May 2020
  Presentation Title: Migrant Solidarities and Resistance in Greece’s Refugee Camps, Graduate Centre for Europe: 14th Annual Conference, University of Birmingham, ‘Voices of Change: Presents, Pasts and Futures of Activism and Protest in Europe’.

• July 2018
  Presentation Title: No Borders against Border Violence, International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM), Thessaloniki, Greece

• 5-6 March 2018
  Presentation Title: Journalism and the Far Right: Covering the Refugee Crisis in Greece, European Federation of Journalists, Media against Hate Conference, Brussels, Belgium

• 24-25 October 2016
  Keynote Speech Title: Movements, Borders, Rights? Feminist Perspectives on Global Issues in Europe WIDE+ & European Women’s Lobby International Conference, Brussels, Belgium