The law is a profession of words, grammar, and linguistic acts. Statutes, jury instructions, and contracts are conveyed through language, as are crimes like threats, bribes, and perjury. Likewise, forensic linguistic evidence can play an important role in civil and criminal cases. The Language and Law certificate equips students to understand the nature of everyday communication, the more specialized linguistic acts found in legal contexts, and the ways in which linguistic evidence can be used in prosecution and defense. The certificate requires five courses. The first three courses are specific: LING 2080 - The Language of Courts and Crime , LING 3020 - Forensic Linguistics , and  LING 3060 - Principles of Language Study .  With the second two courses, students choose from a set of Linguistics electives, allowing them to tailor their experience to their specific interests in language and law: from language change to accent discrimination to computational linguistic methods and more. This certificate is suited for students planning careers in law enforcement and within the legal system, such as paralegals, translators, or interpreters, as well as attending law school or graduate studies in a wide variety of related fields