Tej Bhatia, professor of linguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Shobha Bhatia, the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, recently appeared on two Homeland Defense and Security Information Analysis Center (HDIAC) podcasts to discuss biolinguistics, social basis of accent discrimination and forensic linguistics of criminal detection. HDIAC Podcast features discussions with experts on emerging topics in the fields of alternative energy, biometrics, cultural studies, and homeland defense and security.

• In Accent Matters: Biolinguistics and Social Identity Dimensions, Tej Bhatia and Shobha Bhatia discuss the silent accent trauma suffered by those who speak with “undesirable” foreign or regional accents and experience social exclusion and bullying from native speakers. They also present evidence of social pain caused by social exclusion.
• In Constructing Forensic Linguistic ‘Finger Prints’ for Human/Criminal Identification, Tej Bhatia and Shobha Bhatia discuss the evidence gathering technique known as forensic linguistics. This method allows criminal cases to be solved based on unconscious and conscious dimensions of language that may be used to identify an individual or group.