In January we wrote a little bit about what it takes to become a forensic linguist or a forensic speech scientist – the qualities, skills, and qualifications. But if you did our MSc in Forensic Linguistics and Speech Science, what might you actually learn about in class?

Our upcoming free webinar mini-series will give you the chance to join four taster lectures by the academics teaching the programme. If you join live, you’ll even have the chance to ask questions. But don’t worry if you can’t make it. We’ll be putting catch-up versions online afterwards.

Each talk is hosted on Teams, and we'll start with a short general introduction to Lancaster University and the MSc programme. After the mini-lecture, there will be around fifteen minutes for questions and answers with both the speaker and another academic from the team.

Episode #1: Web of words: can we use linguistics to catch liars?

Time and date: 1400-1500 (GMT), 28^th February 2024

Description: We've all seen "lie detectors" (polygraphs) on TV but do they really work? Are there better methods of deception detection? Could we even catch liars through the words they use?

Speaker: Dr Claire Hardaker, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Corpus Linguistics

In chat: Dr Isobelle Clarke, Lecturer in Security and Protection Science

Catch-up: Watch this episode here.

Episode #2: Should you put your money where your mouth is? Voice biometric technology in banking

Time and date: 1300-1400 (GMT), 13^th March 2024

Description: A number of large organisations (particularly banks) use voice biometric technology to "verify" identities, but how well do these technologies perform? This talk discusses the idea of voice as a biometric, the factors that affect speaker identification performance, and how easy it is to produce AI-generated speech that sounds like you.

Speaker: Dr George Brown, Lecturer in Forensic Linguistics

In chat: Dr Justin Lo, Lecturer in Security and Protection Science

Catch-up: Video coming shortly.

Episode #3: Who wrote this text? Forensic Authorship Analysis

Time and date: 1400-1500 (GMT), 27^th March 2024

Description: One of the most typical tasks of a Forensic Linguist is authorship analysis. Learn about the different types of authorship analysis as well as a recent terrorist case where authorship analysis was used firstly to identify a probable suspect and secondly to connect the suspect to a claim of responsibility for planting a bomb.

Speaker: Dr Isobelle Clarke, Lecturer in Security and Protection Science

In chat: Dr Claire Hardaker, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Corpus Linguistics

Link: Register here.

Episode #4: Say *** again? Disputed speech in forensic audio

Time and date: 1400-1500 (GMT), 10^th April 2024

Description: Words matter, but understanding what is said is often difficult in recordings of poor quality. Learn about the challenges to speech perception in forensic audio and how disputed utterances matter in the courtroom.

Speaker: Dr Justin Lo,Lecturer in Security and Protection Science

In chat: Dr George Brown, Lecturer in Forensic Linguistics

Link: Register here.

Contact

For any registration queries, please email our Events Team.

For any queries about the MSc in Forensic Linguistics and Speech Science or PhD study in the fields of forensic linguistics and speech science, please email the FACTOR team.

For any general linguistics and English Language queries, e.g. school visits, guest talks, undergraduate programmes, and other postgraduate study, please email the Department.