Who We Are
Zelia Gregoriou, Senior Research Associate
Zelia Gregoriou holds a PhD in Philosophy of Education from University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. In the past she has tought at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, at Georgia Southern University and at Intercollege, Nicosia (Director of the Educational Studies Program). She is currently teaching at the University of Cyprus. The focus of her research and writing has been on poststructuralist philosophers of ethics and subjectivity (Derrida, Levinas, Foucault, Irigaray). In particular, she intertwines the reading of these philosophers with multiculturalism’s questions on identity, recognition, cultural narratives, memory and otherness, trying to expand the philosophical range of these questions. Her latest work focuses on trauma, mourning and educational processes of memorialisation.
Project Involvement in: Integration of Female Migrant Domestic Workers, Young Migrant Women in Secondary Education
Christina Kaili, Project Coordinator
Christina Kaili holds a BA in Sociology, with a minor in Political Science from the University of Cyprus, and an MA in Human Rights from the University College London. During her Master’s thesis she conducted research on “The Discourses Constructed on Trafficking of women as a Human Rights issue, as viewed from the Perspective of Public Opinion, NGOs and Policy Elites in Cyprus”. Christina has actively participated in the events and projects organized by various NGOs, including group gatherings, workshops, as well in information panels, training seminars and networking events with other NGOs on a local and European level, where she undertook the responsibility for informing and sensitizing youth on issues pertaining to human, rights, interpersonal relationships, contraception, sexuality, HIV/AIDS, and Sexually Transmitted Infections. Christina’s interests include Ethnicity and Nationalism, Power Gender and Politics, Sexual and Reproductive Human Rights, and Violence against Women especially Trafficking in Women.
Email: christina@medinstgenderstudies.org
Project involvement in: FGM European Campaign, Youth Alert, Combating Honour Related Violence and Forced Marriages Flying Team against Violence
Christiana Kouta Nikolaou, Senior Research Associate
Christiana Kouta Nikolaou is a Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at the Cyprus Technological University. She teaches Health Promotion, Community Nursing, Transcultural Nursing and History of Nursing. Her main research interests include health promotion/education, community health, youth, sexuality, culture and gender. She has been an active member of the Family Planning Association for more than a decade and a member of the Board of Directors for 7 years. Christiana for the past two years has been the President of the Cyprus Family Planning Association. She has also been selected to be on the Bioethics Committee since 2005. Christiana is a member of the Management Committee of the COST action: “Health and Social Care for Migrants and Ethnic Minorities in Europe”. She has experience in designing and implementing research and health promotion programmes for young people and professionals in health and education.
Project involvement in: Daphne II-Date Rape Cases Among Young Women
Stalo Lesta, Research Associate
Stalo Lesta holds a B.A. degree in Statistics (with emphasis in Mathematics and Psychology) from the University of California at Davis. She is also a trained Psychotherapist in the ‘Person-Centered / Rogerian Approach’. Stalo has an extensive experience in Market Research, both in qualitative and quantitative studies across various industries and fields, i.e. Sex Education, Volunteer Involvement, Sexual Health, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Retail, FMCGs , Telecommunications and the Media.
Project involvement in: Poverty and Social Exclusion of Women Vicitms of Domestic Violence; Perspective Project
Alexia Panayiotou, Senior Research Associate
Alexia Panayiotou has undergraduate and graduate degrees in Political Science and Economics from Stanford University, a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a doctorate in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is also a board member of the Mediterranean Institute for Gender Studies, is a currently a Lecturer at the University of Cyprus and a member of the editorial board of Equal Opportunities International, (established in 1982, Emerald Press). Her research interests include feminist theory; the production of discourse in/by organizations; emotionality of work; feminist analysis of organizations; gender issues in the workplace; and organizational space and symbolism. Alexia has been active in several women´s organizations over the last fifteen years, both in the US and in Cyprus. She is a core member of Women Waging Peace and has been trained both as a rape crisis counsellor and as a domestic violence hotline counsellor.
