Please note that due to upcoming strike action, Ryan Boyd’s talk has been rescheduled. You can see the updated date, time, and room here.

Please note that Danuta Kot’s talk has been cancelled. We will hopefully reschedule this within this academic year.

FORGE is delighted to announce a talk by our upcoming internal speaker: Ryan Boyd (Psychology). Details of his talk are below:

TITLE
Predatory Parlance: Understanding the Social Psychology of Online Sexual Predators

ABSTRACT
Internet sex stings have become popular throughout the US as a way to catch potential child predators before they have the  opportunity to victimize actual children. Customarily, online conversations between undercover agents and accused offenders are submitted as evidence in the prosecution of these cases. These chats may be used by prosecutors to demonstrate several aspects of the accused’s psychological profile, such as grooming strategies, the extent to which offenders engaged in rapport building or sexual conversations, and the degree to which offenders controlled/dominated the conversations with their online victims. Using psychologically-grounded language analysis methods across two studies, we analyze transcripts in order to gain a glimpse into the motives, intentions, and other psychological processes of the accused as well as the conduct of undercover agents.

TIME & PLACE
1100-1200, Thu 12^th Mar, County South D72

All are welcome to attend.

Please note that, due to unavoidable circumstances, this talk has been cancelled. With luck, we hope to reschedule in the near future.

The FORGE and the LAEL Society are delighted to announce our first joint external guest speaker of 2019: Danuta Kot. Danuta is a crime novelist who has written books featuring forensic linguistics. Details of her talk are below:

TITLE
Language, Crime, and Death

ABSTRACT
Please be aware that this talk will involve reference to criminal cases, including murder.

Our language tells more about us than we realise – every time we speak or write, we give away things we don’t intend. This is the field of the forensic linguist, searching for the truth that is hiding behind the words. This talk looks at aspects of forensic linguistics: the man who was hanged because the word ‘the’ appeared in his statement – or did it? It also looks at the ways a novelist can weave stories around the secrets hidden in language.

BIO
Danuta Kot (who also writes as Danuta Reah) published her first novel, Only Darkness, in 1999. She has subsequently written eight novels, the latest being Life Ruins. She has also published prize winning short stories. Crime – or dissent – runs in the family. Her father was declared an enemy of the state by Stalin, and one of her ancestors was hung, drawn and quartered in 1646 for his religious beliefs.

You can find out more about Danuta’s work and life at her websites (here and here). Danuta is also on Twitter and Facebook. [cancelled]

TIME & PLACE
W07, 1300-1500, Wed 20^th Nov, Management School Lecture Theatre 5 [cancelled]