Sandra Disner

Research & Practice Areas
Forensic linguistics, phonetics and phonology,
accents of American English.
Education
- Ph.D. Linguistics, UCLA, 6/1983
- M.A. Linguistics, UCLA, 6/1978
- B.A. , Wellesley College, 6/1972
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Research, Teaching, Practice, and Clinical Appointments
- Associate Professor (Teaching), USC,
- Assistant Professor (Teaching) , USC, 2014-2015
- Assistant Professor (Teaching) , USC, 2013-2014
- Assistant Professor (Teaching) , USC,
- Lecturer, USC,
- Lecturer, USC,
- Lecturer, USC,
Visiting and Temporary Appointments
- Lecturer, USC, 2008-2009
- Lecturer, USC,
- Lecturer, UCLA,
- Lecturer, USC,
- Lecturer, U.C. Riverside, Spring Fall
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USC Funding
- Larger Faculty Development Grant. Conference travel — Int’l Assn for Forensic Phonetics & Acoustics $1,500, 2016-2017
- Larger Faculty Development Grant. Conference travel — Int’l Assn for Forensic Phonetics & Acoustics $1,500, 2015-2016
- Larger Faculty Development Grant. West Coast Roundtable on Language & Law $1,500, 2012-2013
- Faculty Travel Grant. International Assn of Forensic Linguists $500, 2011-2012
- Fund for Innovative Undergraduate Teaching. Speaker Identification $5,000, 2008-2010
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Conference Presentations
- F2 and F3 Covariance as evidence of speaker identity , 27th annual IAFPA conferencePoster, International Association for Forensic Phonetica a, Huddersfield, England, 2018 –
- Case Study on Earwitness Reliability , International Association for Forensic Phonetics and Acoustics, 26th annual conferenceTalk/Oral Presentation, Split Croatia, 2017 –
- A Trademark Case which relies crucially on phonetics and dialectology , International Association for Forensic Phonetics and Acoustics, 25th annual conferenceTalk/Oral Presentation, York, England, 2016 –
- The fine structure of phonation as a biometric , Acoustical Society of AmericaPoster, Cancun, Mexico, 2010 –
- Utility of length-normalization for predicting confusion. , 30th annual conference of the International Association for Forensic Phonetics and AcousticsTalk/Oral Presentation, Prague, Czech Republic, 07/2022
- On the phonetics of trademark infringement. , 29th annual conference of the International Association for Forensic Phonetics and AcousticsTalk/Oral Presentation, Marburg, Germany, 07/2021
- , Phonetics and Phonology in Europe 2019Session chair, Lecce, Italy, 2019
- Closing remarks of Discussant Session on Forensic Phonetics & Speaker Characteristics , International Congress of Phonetic SciencesTalk/Oral Presentation, Invited, Glasgow, Scotland, 08/14/2015
- Sound analysis of trademarks , 11th Biennial, International Association of Forensic LinguistsTalk/Oral Presentation, Mexico City, 07/2013
- Examining the voice bar , Acoustical Society of AmericaPoster, San Diego, CA, Fall 2011
- Individuating vocal characteristics with the reassigned spectrogram , International Association of Forensic LinguistsPoster, Birmingham, England, Spring 2011
- Advanced time-frequency displays applied to forensic speaker identification , Acoustical Society of AmericaPoster, Portland, Oregon, 2008-2009
Other Presentations
- Linguistics in Legal Disputes, “Distinguished Voices” lecture, Univ. of California, Irvine, 2018-CONT
- Fanciful trademarks require some sleuthing, 6th West Coast Roundtable on Language and Law, San Francisco, CA, 2012-CONT
- Phonetic complements to linguistic evidence, 5th West Coast Roundtable on Language and Law, Vancouver, Canada, 2011-CONT
- Cross-language differences in related vowels, Participant in “Pisa Lectures” series, Pisa, Italy, 1987-1988
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Book
- Ladefoged, P., Disner, S. F. (2012). Vowels and Consonants. Hoboken NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
Book Chapters
- Van Heuven, V., Afshar, N., Disner, S. F. (2020). Mapping perceptual vowel spaces in native and foreign language. Bilingualism: Hungarian and non- Hungarian contex pp. 12. Veszprém: University of Pannonia.
Encyclopedia Article
- Disner, S. F. (2013). Forensic Linguistics. Heidelberg: Springer: Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
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- Language, Law and Literature, General Education GESM 120, 2015-2016
- Leaving our own imprint, General Education GESM 120, 2015-2016
- Language, Law and Literature, Arts & Letters, Fall 2014
- Leaving Our Own Imprint: Adaptations of the novel, poem, story and play through the centuries, Arts and Letters, 2010-2011
- New Horizons in Speaker Identification, Linguistics, Spring 2010
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Other Advisement or Time Devoted to Students
- Supervised three Independent Study courses for undergraduates in the Linguistics Department
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Administrative Appointments
- Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Linguistics, 2018
Committees
- Secretary, Eta of California chapter, Phi Beta Kappa society, 2018-2019
- Linguistics Department consultative committee on the selection of a Department Chair.,
- Linguistics Department consultative committee on the selection of an Interim Department Chair., 2015-2016
- Linguistics Department consultative committee on the selection of a Department Chair., 2012-2013
Other Service to the University
- Presented research findings at the annual breakfast meeting of the Fund for Innovative Undergraduate Teaching, 2010-2011
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Professional Memberships
- Dictionary Society of North America, 2021-2022
- International Association for Forensic Phonetics and Acoustics, 2021-2022
- International Phonetic Association, 2018-2019
- International Association of Forensic Linguists, 2017-2018
- Acoustical Society of America, 2014-2015
- Linguistic Society of America, 2010-2011
- The Association for Laboratory Phonology, 2010-2011
Reviewer for Publications
- Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Refereed papers on vowel quality, 2019 –
- The Phonetician, Book reviews in the field of phonetics, 2012-2013
- Journal of the International Phonetic Association, Refereed papers on Western European languages, 2003-2004
Media, Alumni, and Community Relations
- Quoted by USA Today on the lasting importance of spelling,
- Quoted by Yahoo News on early childhood language,
- Interviewed by CNN http://newsroom.blogs.cnn.com/2014/06/03/did-bowe-bergdahl-forget-english/,
- Quoted by USA Today in an article on bilingualism,
Other Service to the Profession
- Video conference on careers in Linguistics for the Boise State University Linguistics Association. (twice), 2012-2015
- Served on coordinating committee of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the UCLA Phonetics Laboratory , 2013-2014
- Reviewed grant proposals for the National Science Foundation, 1993-1998