Dr Emiline Smith is a Lecturer in Criminology at the School of Social and Political Sciences, and a member of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, at the University of Glasgow. She is a Fellow at the Centre for Criminology at the University of Hong Kong. Emiline is also a member of the Trafficking Culture Research Consortium, a group of researchers that works to produce evidence-based information about the global illicit trade in cultural objects, and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

Prior to becoming a Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, Emiline worked as a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Liverpool in Singapore. She has previously worked as a research assistant and teaching assistant at the University of Hong Kong, the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. 

Emiline's research concerns the trafficking of ‘special’ commodities, such as antiquities and wildlife. Her research primarily focuses on Asia; she has done fieldwork in Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal and Singapore. She explores how and why participants take part in illicit transnational trades, and how urban settings, especially so-called ‘global cities’ and freeports, facilitate such trade. She is further interested in plastic waste disposal and its impact on marine environments. 

List by: Type | Date

• 2020-21 GCRF Small Grants (PI): 'Art, Feathers & Crime: New Approaches to Studying Natural and Cultural Heritage Trafficking in Indonesia'
• 2020-21 SCCJR Development Fund (PI): 'Tracing Informal and Illicit Plastic Waste Disposal in the Maldives' 
• 2020-21 U21 Researcher Resilience Fund (PI): New Research and Teaching Pathways in the Digital Age: Addressing Challenges and Opportunities for Criminologists and Sociologists During Covid-19' 
• 2019-21 GCRF Small Grants (PI): 'Global synchronization and the illicit antiquities trade: understanding community crime prevention in post-earthquake Nepal and Myanmar'

Dr Smith accepts PhD proposals in the areas of art crime, antiquities trafficking, illicit trade networks, and global and comparative criminology. Those interested in studying with her are asked to include both their CV and an abridged project proposal in any inquiries.

Current

Postgraduate

• The Global Criminal Economy (Course Convener & Lecturer)
• Antiquities Trafficking and Repatriation (Course Convener & Lecturer)
• Criminological Perspectives on Security and Globalisation (Lecturer)

Past

Undergraduate

• Sociology 2A (Lecturer)

Postgraduate

• Art Crime (Course Convener & Lecturer)
• Antiquities Trafficking (Course Convener & Lecturer)
• Repatriation, Restitution, Return (Course Convener & Lecturer)