Crossing Borders
How BU experts and students are using languages to confront challenges across the globe
The young man wanted asylum. He said he was fleeing Sierra Leone’s bloody civil war. The Dutch government didn’t believe him. He didn’t sound like he was from Sierra Leone. Asylum should be denied. Deportation should begin. Forensic linguist Fallou Ngom disagreed.
That Dutch asylum wrangle was in 2002, when Ngom was asked to provide a second opinion on the man’s country of origin based on an analysis of his speech. Since then, Ngom, a Boston University College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) associate professor and director of BU’s African Language Program, has become involved in immigration law and teaches a class in the use of linguistic forensics in asylum cases. He is among the CAS faculty who are setting the standard in foreign language education, and students are reaping the benefits. When they commit to studying one of some 25 languages on offer at BU, students learn more than just grammar, vocabulary, and conversation. They also delve into the history, literature, and culture of the region in which each language is—or was—spoken. What they come away with is a combination of linguistic expertise and cultural understanding that equips them to tap opportunities around the world. In this three-part report, arts&sciences talks with Ngom, as well as an alum who edits news reports from 167 countries, and a student who studied with members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.