*Course Announcement* Forensic Anthropology, Summer 2018
My lab course on forensic anthropology will run this summer (2018) at the University of Victoria. Registration opens in March and enrollment is limited.
Course description and objectives: Forensic anthropologists work closely with local police officials, coroners, pathologists, lawyers, and other forensic specialists to personally identify unknown human remains in order to bring resolution to a case, often associated with a homicide. This course is an introduction to the field of forensic anthropology;a vital and rapidly developing applied subfield of biological anthropology. The major objective of this course is to introduce students to the range of theoretical and methodological techniques that forensic anthropologists use in a death investigation from the recovery of human remains in the field, to lab analyses, to courtroom testimony. The focus of this course will be on anthropological methods to: determine forensic significance, estimate time since death, identify and interpret trauma related causes of death (e.g., blunt force, sharp force, gunshot wounds), and employ methods of personal identification (age, sex, stature,ancestry). The ethical treatment of human remains in a medico-legal context is explored, along with the role of the forensic anthropologist in mass disaster investigations, and as an expert witness. Biological Anthropology 250 is a prerequisite.
