0 or 3 credits
Spring 2026 Lecture Distance Learning Lower Division
Introduction to forensic anthropology, the science that utilizes methods from skeletal biology and archaeology as tools in human identification in a medico-legal context. This course introduces students to methods used to recover and positively identify human remains, and to evaluate trauma and taphonomy in medico-legal situations. Topics include an overview of historical and current developments in the field. Students will develop a comprehensive understanding of the sequential order of applied work from the search for forensic scenes through the recovery of remains, and skeletal analysis in the laboratory.
Learning Outcomes1Understand the legal context in which anthropologists work in both state and federal courts by the standards of the US medico-legal system.
2Explain the statistical approaches to forensic anthropological problems by analysis of problem sets.
3Gain general knowledge about the methods of the biological profile (age, sex, ancestry, stature and pathology) to improve competency and understand the errors associated with each method by review and evaluation of relevant literature.
4Explain the biological basis of the components of the biological profile by advancing reasonable conclusions.
5Critically examine the use of the terms race and ancestry in forensic contexts by group discussion.
made by Purdue students.