CrimSL proudly presented its inaugural Distinguished Alumni Lecture and Awards Ceremony on November 20, 2025, at U of T’s Jackman Humanities Building.
The evening opened with a warm welcome from CrimSL Director Professor Kamari Clarke.
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Breanna Lachmanen, a fourth-year CrimSL undergraduate student and vice president of the Criminology and Sociolegal Studies Association (CRIMSA) next provided a Land Acknowledgement and an overview of CRIMSA student club activities.
Professor Catherine Evans, CrimSL undergraduate coordinator, introduced Professor Renisa Mawani (PhD 2001), Canada Research Chair in Colonial Legal Histories and Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia, the Distinguished Alumni Lecture’s featured speaker.
I first met Professor Mawani when she gave a paper at Cambridge University in 2016, shortly after I had learned that I would be joining the faculty at CrimSL. I was excited about returning to Canada after a decade in the US and the UK, but also unsure about whether a legal historian of empire would be able to find a home among criminologists, sociologists, and theorists. She was generous and warm to an awkward junior scholar in what I would learn is her characteristic way—she is, unsurprisingly, an award-winning teacher and mentor—and of course her talk was wonderful. I figured that if CrimSL could produce a person like Renisa, then I would be ok.
Professor Mawani’s work spans domains, roving widely across space, time, method, and theme. She is at once an historian and theorist of colonialism, race and racism, migration, the archive, environment, gender, time, and the more-than-human.
- Professor Catherine Evans
Professor Mawani presented "A Time of Emergency in Colonial India, Burma, and Siam (1914-1921)," examining the time of emergency in colonial India, Burma, and Siam through a detailed analysis of the Ingress into India Ordinance of 1914. She offered a legal history through family biography, and explored the lessons that this time of emergency holds for our troubled global present. Her lecture was followed by audience Q & A moderated by Professor Evans.
Following Professor Mawani’s lecture, the alumni awards portion of the evening began.
A short video tribute created for each recipient was screened prior to each award presentation.
Professor Evans awarded Professor Mawani with CrimSL’s 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award. This award recognizes a graduate from U of T CrimSL who has made significant and impactful contributions to the fields of criminology and/or sociolegal studies. It highlights a graduate whose scholarship, professional achievements, or community leadership reflect both individual excellence and the academic or public advancement of issues that address crime, law, or justice in our world.
I’d like to thank the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, all my professors—especially Mariana Valverde, Carolyn Strange, Sherene Razack—and my peers.
The centre is a special place that nurtured my commitments to interdisciplinary and intellectual engagement. In my time there, my supervisors taught me to be an independent thinker, to take risks, and to push boundaries.
Most of all, I would like to thank my family—Riaz, my partner, who is here; Sayeed, our son, who is also here. I was six months' pregnant with Sayeed when I defended my PhD. He was four months old when I received my degree. Our daughter Lialah, who couldn’t be with us today, is one of my greatest supporters. The four of them have been my closest interlocutors.
Special thanks to my mom and dad. My mom, Zarina Mawani, helped me with this new project, discussing my speculations and translating Gujarati script. She passed away in June and I dedicate this award to her.
Finally I’d like to thank the committee that granted me this award and all the people who made my visit possible. Tonight has been very special, seeing former professors, past students, and good friends.
- Professor Renisa Mawani (CrimSL PhD 2001)
Professor Beatrice Jauregui, CrimSL graduate coordinator, as Dr. Giancarlo Fiorella's doctoral supervisor, next introduced him as the recipient of CrimSL's 2025 Emerging Leader Impact Alumni Award. Dr. Fiorella (PhD 2023) is director of research and training at Bellingcat and assistant professor at Utrecht University. Professor Jauregui presented Dr. Fiorella with the award.
Giancarlo completed his doctoral work here at the Centre in 2023 with an outstanding dissertation titled "Spectralities at the Protest Chronotope: Venezuela’s Colectivos and the Opposition Social Imaginary." This work focused on what are known widely as "colectivos" of persons who are not officially employed as state police or military agents, and yet play a vital role in upholding the regime in power by suppressing protest and dissent, often through acts of violence and intimidation of local organizers and activists.
Just a year or two into beginning his dissertation research, Giancarlo gradually became part of another kind of "collective" or network of persons who have been referred to as everything from "citizen journalists" and "fact checkers" to experts in "digital forensics" and "open source intelligence," namely, the Bellingcat network. For those of you who are not familiar, the Bellingcat group, founded just over a decade ago, analyzes online content to investigate and geolocate reported war crimes, human rights abuses, and other forms of state sponsored and some times non-state actor perpetrated violence.
Giancarlo joined the group early on, first as a citizen journalist documenting suppression of anti-government protests in Venezuela while doing his PhD; then as a training leader for the Latin America region running workshops for journalists and others interested in learning the Bellincat methodology of collecting, verifying, and archiving digital evidence; and most recently as their Director of Research and Training (globally).
It has been a tremendous privilege to work with Giancarlo and I have learned a huge amount as his dissertation supervisor, colleague, and, I dare say, friend. I’ll just say he was my first PhD student ever, and I could not be more proud of him, nor can I think of anyone more deserving of this inaugural Emerging Leader Impact Alumni Award.
- Professor Beatrice Jauregui
The Emerging Leader Impact Alumni Award recognizes a recent graduate of U of T CrimSL who has made significant contributions to civil society and social justice causes within the fields of criminology, sociolegal studies, and broader justice-related arenas. This award recognizes those whose vision, innovation, and commitment have had a transformative impact—whether through advancing critical research, shaping policy, fostering institutional change, or championing equity and justice in their communities. It celebrates emerging leaders who embody the Centre’s values by bridging academic knowledge and real-world application, inspiring others, and leaving a lasting mark on the pursuit of justice and social progress.
In his remarks, Dr. Fiorella thanked the centre and spoke to current students directly, encouraging them to not shy away from failure, but rather to embrace the chance to fail.
It is only by embracing the possibility of failure that you can ever hope to achieve anything meaningful.
- Dr. Giancarlo Fiorella
Professor Clarke thanked Professor Mawani and Dr. Fiorella and others, and expressed gratitude to alumni for their continuing support of the centre and its activities.
The event was capped with a celebratory reception.
Watch tribute videos for CrimSL’s 2025 alumni award winners
Video tribute to Renisa Mawani, CrimSL 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient
Video tribute to Giancarlo Fiorella, CrimSL 2025 Emerging Leader Impact Alumni Award Recipient
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