Lena Stefanou holds a Bachelor of Archaeology and Art History degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR), a MA in Maritime Archaeology and a PhD in the field of Museum and Heritage Studies both awarded from the University of Southampton (UK). Since 2014 she has been a licensed tourist guide in Greece, in Greek and English languages. Since October 2013 she has been working as an Adjunct Lecturer at the postgraduate course on Management of Cultural Organisations (MSc) of the Hellenic Open University. Since October 2008 she has been teaching at a number of Greek Universities on courses related to the theory and practice of museum studies, museum education, and management of cultural heritage, while also collaborating with different cultural and educational institutions on museum planning, educational design and community archaeology and heritage programs. She has participated in many Greek and international conferences and she has co-authored the edited volume "From archaeology to archaeologies: the ‘other’ past" (BAR International Series 2012). Her publications and her broader research interests revolve around the ideological uses of the past in the present, as these are shaped through the fields of museology and cultural heritage, archaeological ethnography, community engagement, reception and interpretation studies, memory practices and education, i.e. the predominant fields that shape the intimate relationship of various social groups with the past.