Prof. Michalis Kontopodis (CPsychol)

Profile

Prof Michalis Kontopodis is a first-generation student, who grew up in Crete, has lived in a few different countries, publishes in about five different languages and is since a few years an immigrant to the UK. For reasons related to his own biography, Prof Michalis Kontopodis is committed to working on inclusion and diversity, child and adolescent psychology, education, and global childhood & youth futures. Since 2018 he has been the Chair in Global Childhood and Youth Studies at the University of Leeds. He accomplished his PhD in 2007 at the Free University Berlin. Before moving to the University of Leeds, he held the following academic positions: 

• 2016-2018: Senior Lecturer, University of Sheffield, UK

• 2014-2016: Senior Lecturer, Roehampton University London, UK

• 2013-2014: Assistant Professor, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands

• 2011-2012: Post-Doc Researcher, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

• 2007-2010: Post-Doc Researcher, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany

His visiting scholarships & professorships include quite a few highly-ranked universities from around the globe, such as: City University of New York; Pontíficia Universidade Católica de São Paulo and Jawaharlal Nehru University. Many of his openly accessible publications in English, German, Portuguese, French, Greek & Russian are available through his personal blog and webpage: https://mkontopodis.wordpress.com/

Responsibilities

• Member of Editorial Board: Current Anthropology; European Journal of Psychology & Education
• Founding Editor: Peter Lang Book Series: (Post-)Critical Global Childhood & Youth Studies

Research interests

Prof Kontopodis's research is at the frontier of Global Childhood and Youth Studies with three foci: (a) addressing “from below” challenges related to global debt, poverty and marginalisation; (b) innovating pedagogies with digital technologies; (c) deciphering the multiple links between children’s wellbeing, ecology and education. In collaboration with a wide network of academics, practitioners, NGOs, youth organisations and policy makers, Prof Kontopodis conducts research on inclusive and equitable quality education, digital transformation and globalisation from below. His books, edited volumes and journal articles have been published in a few different languages; for further details please visit https://mkontopodis.wordpress.com/

Recent projects include: 

Makerspaces in the Early Years: Enhancing Digital Literacy & Creativity. EU Marie Curie RISE. (PI: Prof. Jackie Marsh, University of Sheffield, 2017-2019).

Imagens, Tecnologias e Infâncias/ Images, Technologies & Childhoods. Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil. External Advisor/ Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (2015-2017).

Semiótica da Cultura e da Mídia/ Semiotics of Culture & Media. Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil. External Advisor/ Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo. (2014-2016)

PI: Global Perspectives on Learning & Development with Digital Video-Editing Media. EU Marie Curie IRSES/ RISE. In collaboration with: University of Crete; Free University Berlin; UCL Institute of Education; Pontíficia Universidade Católica de São Paulo; Jawaharlal Nehru University & Moscow State University (2012–2014).

Book publications include:

Kontopodis, M.; Varvantakis, C. & Wulf, C. (Eds) (2019). Global Youth in Digital Trajectories. London: Routledge.

Kontopodis, M.; Magalhães, M.C. & Coracini, M.J. (Eds) (2016). Facing Poverty and Marginalization: 50 Years of Critical Research in Brazil. Bern: Peter Lang.

Kontopodis, M. (2014). Neoliberalism, Pedagogy and Human Development: London and New York: Routledge.

Kontopodis, M.; Wulf, C. & Fichtner, B. (Eds) (2011). Children, Development and Education: Cultural, Historical, Anthropological Perspectives. Dordrecht & New York: Springer.

Kontopodis, M. & Niewöhner, J. (Eds) (2010). Das Selbst als Netzwerk: Zum Einsatz von Körpern und Dingen im Alltag (The Self as Network: On the Employment of Bodies and Things in the Everyday). Bielefeld: transcript.

Kontopodis, M. (Ed) (2009). Children, Culture & Emerging Educational Challenges: A Dialogue with Brazil. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.

Open access & overview of publications in English, German, Portuguese, French, Greek & Russian: https://mkontopodis.wordpress.com/

Professional memberships

• British Psychological Society
• International Society for Cultural-historical Activity Research (Former Secretary)

Student education

Prof Michalis Kontopodis contributes to a variety of courses in education, psychology and childhood & youth studies across BA, MA and PhD programmes. He welcomes potential PhD students interested in childhood and youth futures, digital technologies and/or global education to contact him directly as to discuss their ideas and research proposals (spoken languages: English, German, French, Greek, Portuguese & Spanish).

Research groups and institutes

• Centre for Digital Learning
• ICY: Inclusion, Childhood & Youth Research Centre
• Centre for Global Development
• Leeds Social Science Institute

Current postgraduate researchers

• Kubra Alhawamdeh
• Luke McFarline
• Sangeeta Rani
• Yuzhuo Zhao
• Shouqiang Wang