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As part of QUT Pride Month, join us on Thursday 18 Sept<\/strong> at Kelvin Grove Campus for a vibrant two-part event.<\/p>\n Beginning with a creative art workshop (10:00 am\u201312:00 pm<\/strong>) led by Dr Rhea Creado, TEDx Speaker, Researcher, Educator and Artist, in which participants will create mixed-media self-portraits inspired by the bold and powerful work of queer artists. Think Mickalene Thomas, Daniel Arzola and Zanele Muholi! Participants will be encouraged to explore a variety of materials that reflect their own unique stories and identity. We are less interested in perfect portraits that accurately capture your face. This is a space for self-expression and visibility \u2014 let your portraits showcase who you are on the inside.<\/p>\n Dr. Rhea Creado<\/strong> is an artist, educator, and researcher, whose PhD research centred on art activism, and arts pedagogy for children. Rhea grew up in Dubai and Sydney, and has since lived in Los Angeles, New York, and Brisbane. After graduating with a Master\u2019s degree from New York University, Rhea remained motivated to explore the value of art-making as a tool for learning and social change. Rhea is currently a Sessional Academic at QUT\u2019s School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education.<\/p>\n The workshop will be followed by a networking lunch from\u00a012-1pm<\/strong>.<\/p>\n After lunch, the program continues with a guest lecture (1:00 pm\u20132:30 pm<\/strong>) from Dr Emma Russell,<\/strong> Associate Professor in Crime, Justice and Legal Studies at La Trobe University. who will give a presentation:\u00a0From Prison to Police Abolition: Challenging Queer Criminology\u2019s Investments in the Police<\/em>.<\/p>\n Over the last decade, the idea that police organisations can be reformed as forces for social good has come into greater disrepute. Thanks to movements for First Nations justice, Black Lives, and trans\/queer liberation, notions of defunding, disarming and dismantling the police are familiar and even welcomed by growing numbers of scholars, activists and engaged citizens. This emergent horizon of police abolition extends longer traditions of critical policing studies and prison abolitionism, which both have important albeit marginal places in the broader discipline of criminology. Despite its radical flanks, the same is largely true for\u00a0queer\u00a0<\/em>criminology. This is not entirely surprising, since, on the one hand, criminology has longstanding ties to carceral enterprises, and on the other, many mainstream LGBTIQA+ organisations have embraced policing as pathways to inclusion and protection. This lecture combines reflections on Dr Russell’s own experiences as a queer activist and PhD student with insights from the literature on police abolition. By deepening our understandings of the social functions of the police, we can build towards disentangling ourselves from the carceral state.<\/p>\n Dr Emma Russell<\/strong> is an Associate Professor of Crime, Justice and Legal Studies in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at La Trobe University, which is located on unceded Wurundjeri land in Melbourne, Australia. She is a critical criminologist and carceral geographer whose research focuses on prisons, policing and anti-carceral resistance. Emma is the author of\u00a0Queer Histories and the Politics of Policing\u00a0<\/em>(2020) and co-author (with Bree Carlton) of\u00a0Resisting Carceral Violence: Women\u2019s Imprisonment and the Politics of Abolition\u00a0<\/em>(2018).\u00a0<\/em>She is involved in various local coalitions against prison expansion and hyper-criminalisation. In 2024-2026, Emma is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow on \u2018New Bail Regimes: Reconceptualising Risk to Reduce Remand Imprisonment\u2019.<\/p>\nRegister here: <\/strong><\/h4>\n