The Language and Culture Series invites U of A students, faculty and staff, as well as the Northwest Arkansasa community, to attend its closing event featuring Natalie Schilling, a professor of linguistics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., who will speak about "Diverse voices in legal contexts: Issues and case studies in forensic linguistics." This public lecture will take place at 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 15, in the Gearhart Auditorium (GEAR 026). Please register here to receive the Zoom link to attend this event virtually.

Schilling has a Ph.D. in linguistics and is internationally recognized for her research on language variation and change. She regularly teaches sociolinguistics and forensic linguistics at Georgetown. In her presentation, she will use case studies from her own work with various actors in the legal system, including attorneys, law enforcement officers, exonerees and incarcerated individuals to discuss the impacts that linguistic diversity can have in legal contexts such as police-civilian encounters and courtroom discourse and how linguists can use their expertise in language and dialect variation in such settings to help further justice.

This event is part of the new Language and Culture Series, which has been created to celebrate and share language, culture, customs and more with the campus and our surrounding community. The series contributes to the university's commitment to its diversity and inclusion priorities and generally aligns with the recognized spring and fall heritage months, from January through November 2021. While the events are free and open to the public, participating U of A students can download a virtual passport on the series website to track their attendance at events. Upon completing events, students will be entered to win various prizes, including e-gift cards to Walmart and Amazon and Language and Culture Series t-shirts.

This public event is sponsored by the Language and Culture Series Committee, the Honors College, and the African and African American Studies Program at the U of A.