Dr Laura Smith-Khan
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lauraskh.bsky.social
Dr Laura Smith-Khan
@lauraskh.bsky.social
9.9K followers 6K following 1.9K posts
Australian Senior Lecturer, language, law & society. #LLIRN. lawandlanguage.org
External CESSMIR UGent. @languageonthemove.bsky.social member.
Asylum, migration, disability, human rights, legal ed/prac, access to justice
ENG, FR, ES, IT, اردو, پښتو
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lauraskh.bsky.social
Dr Laura Smith-Khan @lauraskh.bsky.social · Nov 13
Hello 👋, below is a bit about me. If you're new, please include some information about yourself in your bio/ name, so I can understand who you are!
lauraskh.bsky.social Dr Laura Smith-Khan @lauraskh.bsky.social · Aug 2
I'm new, so thought I should introduce myself (for those who don't know me from the other place). I'm an interdisciplinary scholar, working mainly across linguistics and law. I co-run the Law& Linguistics Interdisciplinary Researchers Network. https://www.languageonthemove.com/linguistics-meets-law/
lauraskh.bsky.social
I've started a Starter Pack for the Language on the Move research community 🥳
For members of the research group, contributors to the blog/podcast.
Please shout out if you're part of the LOTM community and I'll add you/tag suggestions (or lmk if you're on there but would prefer not to be)
November 11, 2025 at 7:26 AM
lauraskh.bsky.social
It's not every day we get to welcome several new amazing members to our research community in one go. Check out the new dream team joining Prof Piller in Hamburg 🤩
November 10, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
austhumanrights.bsky.social
The number of people who've reported being victims of modern slavery activity in NSW has risen by 116% since last financial year. Australian Human Rights Institute director, Professor @justinenolan.bsky.social, chats to the ABC's World Today program about the figures: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Modern slavery increasing in NSW - ABC listen
The New South Wales Anti-Slavery Commissioner says the number of people who've reported being victims of modern slavery activity in the state has risen by 116 per cent since last financial year.
www.abc.net.au
November 10, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
thenoraheffect.bsky.social
Good morning and happy Sunday 🐴 🥰
November 9, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
kbkarlson.bsky.social
LAST CALL! #Sociology Professorships in Copenhagen, Denmark!

We're hiring 2+ open-rank profs (Asst/Assoc/Full). Any area.

Deadline: this Saturday, Nov 15!

Join a leading European sociology department. Please repost!

jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabeli...
Call for two or more open-rank academic positions in Sociology
jobportal.ku.dk
November 9, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
michaelchesnut.bsky.social
German and Korean, a relatively unusual combination in Korea, on a poster seen on a university campus in Seoul, part of the campus #LinguisticLandscape!
A poster in German and Korean
November 8, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
broadwaybabyto.bsky.social
ICE agents in Chicago violently detain a non verbal autistic man for being “non compliant”

He couldn’t “comply” because of his disability…they don’t care

This is not the first time they’ve gone after a disabled person

They target the most vulnerable because it’s an easy way to meet their quota
November 8, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
dieworkwear.bsky.social
Grok tweets: "Yes, the USSR's founding ideology under Lenin and Stalin explicitly aimed for world revolution to achieve global communism, as outlined in Marxist-Leninist doctrine. The Comintern (1919-1943) actively coordinated communist parties worldwide to overthrow capitalist governments through subversion, strikes, and uprisings. While Stalin later emphasized "socialism in one country" for pragmatic reasons, Soviet support for proxy wars, espionage, and insurgencies—like in Korea, Vietnam, and Cuba—continued exporting revolution until the end. Coexistence rhetoric masked this expansionist drive." Ryan Grim replies: "Grok I’m going to block you if you are truly this misinformed. This is communism 101. The whole debate between Stalin and Trotsky was over this question and Stalin won. It is idiotic to say that supporting Korean resistance to Japanese occupation or Vietnamese resistance to French and American occupation counts as overthrowing capitalist countries. Check your training for bias because these assertions are absurd. (Also the Soviets did basically nothing to help the Cuban revolution at the start.) This is your last chance to dodge a block."
November 7, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
This really hasn’t gotten enough attention this week.

@wired.com #ICE
www.wired.com/story/fbi-wa...
November 5, 2025 at 11:09 PM
lauraskh.bsky.social
@schenior.bsky.social has just begun a post-doc with Ingrid Piller (@languageonthemove.bsky.social) at Hamburg, with a bunch of other cool people. Follow her for research, stay for the book reviews 😀

Project overview here
www.languageonthemove.com/hiring-a-dre...
November 5, 2025 at 4:53 AM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
kyledcheney.bsky.social
NEW: A federal judge said the decision by Trump WH to end sign language interpretation at briefings by Trump and Leavitt likely violated the Rehabilitation Act and harmed deaf people who communicate in ASL.

www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Judge orders White House to restore sign language interpreters at briefings by Trump, Leavitt
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali said the White House’s decision to end ASL interpretation illegally excluded deaf Americans from crucial updates from the government.
www.politico.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
davidshoebridge.bsky.social
Evidence of mass killings by RSF in El-Fasher, Sudan, are chilling. They must be a wake up call for the rest of the planet too. Countries must be pressured to stop sending weapons into their proxy war in Sudan. It starts with acknowledging the horror.
November 1, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
sundersays.bsky.social
Neither the government nor the media are taking Musk seriously enough, given his commitments to doing whatever he can to socialise violence in our country by the various means available to him (money, platforms, voice)
bsky.app/profile/sund...
sundersays.bsky.social Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 12d
Normalisation? Musk saying civil war inevitable in UK (at least third time) + socalising violence (the second time) is mostly not considered newsworthy.

He wrote: "It is time for the English to ally with the hard men, like Tommy Robinson, and fight for their survival or they shall surely all die"
November 2, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
“To add insult to injury, many metaphorical … phrases (especially used to describe ANNs; see Table 1) — like train, learn, hallucinate, reason — are applied to machines and result in distorting how we perceive these machines: humanising them while dehumanising us”

zenodo.org/records/1706...

14/🧵
Table 1. Below some of the typical terminological disarray is untangled. Importantly, none of these terms are orthogonal nor do they exclusively pick out the types of products we may wish to critique or proscribe.
September 19, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
simonhix.bsky.social
We have just advertised a Full Prof position in the Political and Social Sciences department at the EUI (@eui-sps.bsky.social). Here are the details. Please spread the word, and get in touch if you have any questions.
www.eui.eu/Documents/Se...
www.eui.eu
October 23, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
merryrobin.bsky.social
Karimeh Abbud (1896 – 1940; Arabic: كريمة عبّود) was a Palestinian professional photographer and artist who lived and worked in Palestine in the first half of the twentieth century.
She was one of the first woman photographers in Palestine and the Middle East.
Today, a colorful postcard thread 🧵
A black and white full body portrait of Karimeh Abbud standing with pride next to her professional camera. She has short, dark hair, and a light colour plain modern dress. A colorised photo reading 11. Nazareth. Ploughing the fields. We see a man walking behind two working donkeys with soft dark fur and their characteristic light colour around the eyes. The man wears a head covering. Wide green fields behind them, and another person and donkey on the distance.
August 6, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
estarianne.bsky.social
If people can do illegal things and there are no other people that can make them stop one must wonder what laws even mean.
October 31, 2025 at 8:54 PM
lauraskh.bsky.social
"we've got to be careful not to impose an expectation or too much pressure on athletes to be even more than what they are, which is really good at a particular sport...But if they do have an appetite for using the platform for more...I want to encourage more athletes to step into that space"
October 31, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
ruemcclammyhand.bsky.social
will kim is still in ICE detention
ruemcclammyhand.bsky.social regular meghan 나영지 🇵🇸 @ruemcclammyhand.bsky.social · Sep 4
will taeheung kim, a korean american scientist and doctoral candidate with a green card, is still being detained by ICE. he's been in detention since July 21, first at SFO for over a week and then in various ICE facilities all over the country.
Instagram post from Stop AAPI HAte; horrific new details emerge about CBP's unlawful detainment of u.s. permanent resident returning from south korea. reports detail how CBP trapped tae heung "will" kim under inhumane conditions for over eight days at an airport. officers moved kim several times to "confuse and disorient him" kept the lights on at all times, gave him minimal food and no bed--forcing hi to sleep on a row of chairs.
October 30, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
matthewborus.bsky.social
A UUP member was kidnapped by ICE at an immigration hearing in Syracuse yesterday, along with a union sibling from CSEA.

Immigration is a labor issue for so many reasons. A foundation of any union is that an injury to one is an injury to all. This cowardly detention is an attack on all of us.
uupinfo.bsky.social United University Professions @uupinfo.bsky.social · 12d
Statement from United University Professions President Frederick E. Kowal regarding the detainment of a UUP Upstate Chapter member by ICE:

Statement in following posts. (1/6)
October 30, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
merryrobin.bsky.social
Botanical artists, a thread.
🌿🌼🌿
(There are so many, this will be a first part, so stay tuned for more)
Starting with Amanda Almira Newton and a lovely avocado, a beautiful reminder of how diverse nature is.
Did you know avocado trees change sex throughout the day?
🧵 1/20
merryrobin.bsky.social Robin (she/he-ella/él) @merryrobin.bsky.social · Nov 6
Amanda Almira Newton (c. 1860–1943) was a botanical illustrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture specialized in watercolors of fruit.
She contributed to the USDA's Pomological Watercolor Collection with 7,600 paintings.
Here, a nice looking Trapp variety of avocado (Persea species) 🥑
A grainy, black-and-white newspaper-style portrait of a woman wearing a high-necked blouse. Her hair is styled in a voluminous updo, typical of the early 20th century. A botanical watercolor illustration of a cross-section of an avocado. The artwork reveals the creamy yellow flesh and the large, irregularly shaped seed at the center. The skin is depicted as green with darker outer edges, and two additional slices of the avocado are shown above and below. Handwritten notes around the illustration include details like the date (1914) and location (Miami Plant Introduction Garden), along with the artist’s signature, A.A. Newton.
October 30, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
astrokatie.com
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
June 19, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
zoejardiniere.bsky.social
Asylum seekers, housed in hotels in Manchester, are reaching out in their own words to address the concerns of the local community.

Please take a minute to read their letter, & share it with the people in your life who need to hear the truth about the people they are protesting.
October 27, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Reposted by Dr Laura Smith-Khan
zoejardiniere.bsky.social
Link to read the letter here: gmiau.org/assets/uploa...

Thank you to @gmiau.bsky.social for helping these people raise their voices, and to all the people who take the time to welcome and support asylum seekers housed in your local areas. It means the world❤️
gmiau.org
October 27, 2025 at 11:42 AM