John Baugh, the Margaret Bush Wilson Professor in Arts & Sciences, will begin research for a new book on linguistic profiling as part of an April 2016 scholar-in-residence program at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center on Lake Como in Italy.
Now in its 56th year, the Bellagio Center residency program provides support to innovative scholars and bold thinkers “with a very accomplished history and a specific plan for new work that will further change the world for the better.”
Baugh is working on a project titled “Linguistics in Pursuit of Justice” that will examine legal cases involving discrimination based on language use. His book will describe civil and criminal cases where linguistic identification and analysis were critical to a final legal resolution, including cases involving housing markets and hiring practices. The book is intended as a primer for nonspecialists who want to learn more about ways linguistics can be used to promote justice in various forms.