Meet Our Graduate Students: Hana Georgoulis

My name is Hana and I am currently a first year PhD student in the School of Criminology. I’m from Calgary and I received my Bachelor of Kinesiology from the University of Calgary in 2020. I was originally interested in going to medical school until I took a law course with a professor who studied serial killers, and I was immediately intrigued. I began working with her, studying the phenomenology of serial and sexual murderers, and that solidified my decision to apply to Simon Fraser University for my MA. Currently, I work with Dr. Eric Beauregard studying sexual violence.

Tell me about your research

My current research focuses on sexual homicide, in particular, the victimology of sexual murderers. I am looking at different victim characteristics and activities prior to the crime to see what that may indicate about the murderer.

What motivated you to pursue that specific research?

My mom was telling me about the Paul Bernardo case in Ontario one day, and I found myself wondering how something like that could ever happen. I wanted to understand how an individual could engage in such violent behaviour, but the more I read up about the case, the more confused I got. I realized that pursuing work this would allow me to explore these behaviours more, and might help me answer some of the questions I had (and create plenty of new ones).

What are you particularly enjoying about your studies and research at SFU’s School of Criminology?

The people! The department has incredible professors and graduate students that I enjoy learning from and collaborating with on projects. I came to SFU to work with Dr. Beauregard and have met so many phenomenal people here as I’ve worked through my MA and PhD, which motivates me to continue to do research I’m passionate about.

What are your plans after finishing your program?

At the moment, I’d like to become a professor so I can continue to do research and teach people about the topics that I find interesting, and hopefully spark some curiosity in students.

READ HANA GEORGOULIS’ WORK:

A Criminological Perspective on the Sexual Victimization of Older Adults

Crime Scene and Victim Characteristics in Sexual Homicide Cases Where the Body is Openly Displayed

CONTACT INFORMATION:

E-mail: hana_georgoulis@sfu.ca

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hana-georgoulis-5083881a2/