Lesley Stirling

Biography

Lesley Stirling is Professor in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at the University of Melbourne and from 2019, Head of the School of Languages and Linguistics. Before joining the University of Melbourne in 1989, she taught at the University of Edinburgh where she completed her PhD in Cognitive Science and Linguistics.Her main research interests are in the areas of descriptive and typological linguistics, discourse and conversation analysis, healthcare communication, and cognitive science. She conducts research into Australian English and Australian Indigenous languages including Kala Lagaw Ya, the language of the Western Torres Strait Islands. She is also working on major projects in the study of communication and Autism Spectrum Disorders, and is an Associate of the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre at La Trobe University.She is a past recipient of the Max Crawford Medal from the Australian Academy of the Humanities for her early research in formal and typological linguistics.