Maria Giannacopoulos

Dr. Maria Giannacopoulos is an Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Criminology Law and Justice at UNSW Sydney. She holds a BA(Hons) LLB (Hons) and a PhD in Cultural Studies from Macquarie University. Her work focuses on decolonizing legal and criminological frameworks, addressing colonial power dynamics, and advancing racial and Indigenous justice. Prior to UNSW, she taught at Flinders University for over a decade and received the 2020 Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Education:

• PhD in Cultural Studies (Macquarie University, 2010)
• BA(Hons) and LLB(Hons) (University of Wollongong, 1999)

Research Interests:

• Decolonizing approaches to law and criminology
• Colonial law's relationship to violence and carcerality
• Indigenous justice and sovereignty
• Border studies and migration policies

Awards:

• 2020 Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching
• 2018 ARC Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellowship
• 2017 Flinders University Excellence in Teaching Award

Her research spans decolonizing legal systems, colonial debtscapes, and nomocide (legal violence causing cultural death). She co-edits special journal issues like Law Text Culture's 'Imagining Decolonised Law' and delivered the 2023 John Barry Lecture in Criminology.