John Blake

I am a multidisciplinary specialist with degrees in applied linguistics, education, computer science, mathematics education, business administration, creative writing, and combined studies. I am a lecturer in Natural Language Processing (NLP) at Aston University, affiliated with the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics and the School of Computer Science and Digital Technologies. Previously, I was a full professor in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Aizu. Much of my work is at the intersection of natural language processing (NLP) and forensic linguistics, with a particular focus on authorship analysis, including attribution, verification, and profiling. I develop software and online tools that make linguistic analysis more systematic, transparent, and applicable to real-world problems. I am particularly interested in combining corpus-based approaches with machine learning and explainable AI. My broader research agenda includes computational stylistics, cross-genre and cross-modal authorship analysis, and the design of intelligent systems for language analysis and learning. I lead and collaborate on projects that translate theoretical insights into practical tools, with an emphasis on usability, interpretability, and impact. My approach to teaching is described in my teaching philosophy. My boarder life philosophy is given on my philosophy page. I am an avid mountaineer and outdoorsman with a strong enthusiasm for the outdoors, wild swimming and winter mountaineering.