I joined the Department of Sociology in January 2022 as a Global Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellow on the project Queer Interventions on Self-harm in Prison. The project comprises of two phases: in the outgoing phase (January-May 2022), Elena will work firstly with Associate Professor Mathew Ball at the School of Justice, University of Queensland in Australia and secondly with Associate Professor Eric Stanley at the Gender and Women's Department, University of California, Berkeley, (June 2022-December 2023). In the final, incoming phase (January 2024-December 2024) I will work on implementing the project with Associate Professor of Sociology Anastasia Chamberlen. I hold a PhD in Gender Studies from the University of Cyprus and a BA and MA in Psychology and Social Psychology from Panteion University (Athens). My PhD focused on ex-prisoners’ narratives in relation to issues of punishment, resistance, gender and pleasure. I worked as an educator at the Nicosia Central Prison (Cyprus) for a period of five years and I have extensive experience with psychiatric patients in social care homes (2010-2019). I have also taken part in many local and European projects as a researcher about LGBTQ issues, queer parenting, and prison studies. My research interests include prison studies, queer theory, decolonial approaches and psychoanalysis.

 

Publications

Vasiliou, E. (2020). Penitentiary pleasures: Queer understandings of prison paradoxes. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 20(5), 577-589.

Avgousti, A., & Vasiliou, E. (2020). Voiceit Strengthening LGBTQI+’s Voice in Politics National Report – Cyprus. Voiceit.

Vasiliou, E. (2018). Learning from prisons: Decolonial feminism and teaching approaches from prison to university, R. Ιcaza, ed., Decolonization and Feminism in Global Teaching and Routledge.

Shoshilou, P. A., & Vasiliou, E. (2016). Teachers reflect on homophobia in the Cypriot education system: A qualitative study. Journal of LGBT youth, 13(1-2),89-111.