(Image credit: Australian Government, Study Australia) In her 2007 ethnographic study of eight US law schools, Elizabeth Mertz traces the process through which law students learn to “think like a…
Laura Smith-KhanApril 3, 2025
In this podcast episode, I speak with Dr Anthea Vogl about her new book, Judging Refugees: Narrative and Oral Testimony in Refugee Status Determination. The conversation introduces listeners to the…
Laura Smith-KhanNovember 2, 2024
Moving to a new country involves a lot of learning. Not least important is developing an understanding of local laws. This is essential to avoid breaking the law but is…
Laura Smith-KhanSeptember 19, 2024
Dr Laura Smith-Khan during her keynote at InDialog (Image credit: Dries Cavents, UGhent) Editor's Note: Asylum seekers in countries of the Global North need to communicate a credible fear of…
Laura Smith-KhanSeptember 22, 2023
(Image credit: Eurekastreet) Editor's note: This article is based on a presentation delivered as part of a plenary panel, ‘Transdisciplinary Approach to Forensic Linguistics’, at the 16th Biennial Conference of the…
Laura Smith-KhanJuly 3, 2023
Image credit: Chris Montgomery via Unsplash Language plays a central role in legal settings. The way linguistic diversity is conceptualized and accommodated can affect access to justice in a myriad…
Laura Smith-KhanNovember 2, 2021
In a world where public debates about refugees and asylum seekers often focus on whether they are telling the truth, it should probably come as no surprise that government processes…
Laura Smith-KhanMay 6, 2020
Laura and Alex getting ready for their presentation at the Humboldt Symposium This time two years ago, Alexandra Grey (my blog co-author) and I had realized that there were important…
Laura Smith-KhanJanuary 20, 2020
2019 Conference of the International Association of Forensic Linguists Note: This post was co-authored with Alexandra Grey. The Biennial Conference of the International Association of Forensic Linguists (IAFL) was held…
Laura Smith-KhanJuly 18, 2019
Manus Hospital often treats refugees (Image credit: ABC News, Natalie Whiting) A growing body of literature across multiple disciplines attests to the importance of credibility in the bureaucratic processes for…
Laura Smith-KhanJuly 11, 2019
Oh, the places you'll go! Starting out Nearing the end of my undergraduate study, I was working on a small research essay and was having some trouble figuring out the…
Laura Smith-KhanFebruary 7, 2019
An injured young man wakes up on a German hospital ship in 1943. His mind is blank: he cannot remember who he is, or even how to speak, and has…
Laura Smith-KhanMay 16, 2018
Colours of the alphabet February 21 is International Mother Language Day and serves as an opportunity to discuss and promote the use of first-language medium education. The United Nations Educational,…
Laura Smith-KhanFebruary 21, 2018
Multilingual advice provided by the Administrate Review Tribunal Countries in the Global North have developed increasingly sophisticated and complex processes to assess the claims of people seeking asylum. One key…
Laura Smith-KhanNovember 14, 2017
Before starting my PhD in sociolinguistics at Macquarie University, I had the great privilege of being involved in a research project that was run out of Sydney Law School at…
Laura Smith-KhanSeptember 11, 2017
This work is licensed under a