Forensic Linguistics: Applications
This intensive course that can either be taken for 3 graduate credits, or as a non-credit course with a certificate of completion.
WHEN
View Program Overview and Schedule
Robert A. Leonard, Director of the Forensic Linguistics Project
Dr. Tanya Karoli Christensen of Denmark’s University of Copenhagen. Alternate Instuctor: James Fitzgerald.
About the Course
In addition to teaching the investigation of criminal, intelligence, and terrorism cases, these courses cover more foundational linguistic theory, ongoing research on threat assessment, criminal defense strategies, a selection of US civil law cases in addition to criminal cases, and include European forensic linguistic responses to terrorism, threats, and violence.
Cases
Case studies and class participation exercises are largely from those worked by Christensen or Leonard, which include the JonBenet Ramsey Case, Coleman triple homicides, the Facebook Catfishing Executions, death threats to sitting judges and members of U.S. Congress, the Hummert Murder Case, Apple vs. Microsoft, Apple vs. Amazon, Brooklyn 911 murder, European Syrian ISIS Warrior case, and European threat and extortion letters.
| Course Offerings | ||
|---|---|---|
| H2006 | International Forensic Linguistics [Ling 219] | Get Class Info |
| H2007 | U.S. Forensic Linguistics [Ling 220] | Get Class Info |
WHEN
View Program Overview and Schedule
WHERE
Hofstra University campus in Hempstead, Long Island, 25 miles east of New York City. Hofstra University’s unique Forensic Linguistics Project is a leader in forensic linguistic analysis.
Robert A. Leonard, Director of the Forensic Linguistics Project
Dr. Tanya Karoli Christensen of Denmark’s University of Copenhagen. Alternate Instuctor: James Fitzgerald.
About the Course
In addition to teaching the investigation of criminal, intelligence, and terrorism cases, these courses cover more foundational linguistic theory, ongoing research on threat assessment, criminal defense strategies, a selection of US civil law cases in addition to criminal cases, and include European forensic linguistic responses to terrorism, threats, and violence.
Cases
Case studies and class participation exercises are largely from those worked by Christensen or Leonard, which include the JonBenet Ramsey Case, Coleman triple homicides, the Facebook Catfishing Executions, death threats to sitting judges and members of U.S. Congress, the Hummert Murder Case, Apple vs. Microsoft, Apple vs. Amazon, Brooklyn 911 murder, European Syrian ISIS Warrior case, and European threat and extortion letters.
* Required field
Course Content
A case-based approach to solving legal and law enforcement problems through linguistic analysis:
- Language crimes: Bribery, perjury, solicitation to murder, and threats are all crimes committed through the use of language (in some cases ancillary actions are required for prosecution as well). Select types of language crimes are analyzed and discussed.
- Demographic Linguistic Profiles: Dialectology, sociolinguistics and linguistic variation analyses can indicate a writer's regional and local geographic origin, education level, occupational training, and other demographic features.
- Authorship Analysis: Text comparisons can indicate whether two sets of texts have common authorship. The role of authorship analysis in investigation and litigation is exemplified and discussed through several cases.
- Forensic linguistic analysis of total speech events: Since language vastly underdetermines meaning contextual information is necessary for valid interpretations of any linguistic feature, from conversations to utterances to words and morphemes. The build-up of speech events, the possibly conflicting schemas of participants, their conversational strategies, and speech acts are presented and discussed.
- Legal language: Written text such as contracts, warning labels, and police reports, and spoken data such as police interrogations and courtroom interaction are introduced and analysed in class.
- Examining the differences in markers of commitment between realized vs. non-realized threats.
- Honing threat assessment protocols
Course Format and Schedule
In addition to lecture and class-based exercises, students will be formed into teams to work on case analyses out of class.
Requirements and Credits
There are no prerequisites. The course is aimed at both investigative and legal professionals as well as the more academically-oriented student. The costs are $970 for Continuing Education credit or approximately $4200 for three graduate credits to be used towards a degree. There are unfortunately no scholarships available, nor can one participate as a distance learner. This is a highly interactive class, both between instructors and participants, and among participants who form small teams for analysis of case evidence.
For information on hotels, and to register for Continuing Education credit, email Continuing Education coordinator Michael P. Chisena, at Michael.Chisena@hofstra.edu, or call 516-463-5909.
For other information, email the office of Robert Leonard at ForensicLinguistics@hofstra.edu.
