Forensic Anthropology

Catalog description

Forensic Anthropology is an applied subfield of biological anthropology that provides expert analysis of skeletal remains in a medicolegal setting by utilizing methods developed in skeletal biology, archaeology, and the forensic sciences. Students will gain an understanding of the forensic anthropologists role in death investigations and be introduced to the theory and applied techniques utilized to recover and identify individuals. Students will learn how anthropologists interpret skeletal features in the determination of the biological profile (age, ancestry, sex, and stature) and how they assess manner/mode of death through the interpretation of skeletal trauma and taphonomy. Course grades are based on a bone quiz, article critique and presentation, a research paper, and a final exam.