On 03 December 2025, Professor Nicola Carr, Professor of Social Work and Social Policy, delivered her Inaugural Lecture at Trinity College Dublin’s Robert Emmet Theatre.
Titled ‘Doing Time: Rationalities, Practices and Experiences of Punishment’, the lecture explored how time structures and shapes the penal process, from the duration of sentences, to processes of rehabilitation, to the ways individuals are expected to demonstrate change.
This lecture drew on research from across her career conducted with practitioners and individuals who have experienced the criminal justice system to explore how punishment is enacted and understood in everyday contexts. It explored how professional discourse and institutional practices define the ‘subject’ of criminal justice, and how people interpret and navigate these constructions.
Professor Nicola Carr reflected on the importance of the event, describing it as a special moment to acknowledge those who shaped her academic career. She highlighted the significance of gathering the Trinity community to celebrate research and scholarship, appreciating the attendance of the Provost, the Dean of Research, colleagues, students, and her own family and friends, whose presence made the occasion especially meaningful.
In her address she explored how professional discourse and institutional practices define the ‘subject’ of criminal justice, and how people interpret and navigate these constructions. By foregrounding time as a central organising principle, the lecture highlighted its constitutive role in shaping identities, expectations, and the lived realities of punishment.
Appointed as Chair of Social Work and Social Policy in the School of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin, in October 2024. Professor Nicola Carr is an internationally recognised scholar in the fields of probation, youth justice and criminal justice policy.
The lecture was followed by a reception in the Senior Common Room, where Professor Carr celebrated the occasion with colleagues, friends and family.
Please click here to visit the Faculty of AHSS Inaugural Lectures webpage to view the brochure, photos and full lecture video of Professor Carr’s lecture.
Image from left to right: Provost of Trinity College Dublin, Dr Linda Doyle, Professor Nicola Carr, Professor of Social Work and Social Policy, and Dr Catherine Conlon, Head of School of Social Work and Social Policy.