Forensic Anthropology, Anthropology 494:B1 Winter 2016 Tory 1-33, Tuesdays 2pm - 4:50pm Instructor: Pamela Mayne Correia Tory 1-46 Office hours: by appointment or Mondays 11-12
Policy about course outlines can be found in ' 23.4(2) of the University Calendar. (GFC 29 SEP 2003).
Course Description:
Forensic Anthropology is a subfield of biological anthropology. In this
course we will explore human skeletal individualization and its application to human death investigation. Standard methods used in bioarchaeology are examined for how they apply in the modern forensic context, and how court requirements impact on their application. Students will explore mass
disaster, genocide, accidental, and traumatic death investigation Course Objectives:
The specific course objectives include:
• to review and solidify your knowledge about standard methods used to create an osteobiography within a forensic context;
• to research a topic important to the discipline and to critically assess that information in paper format;
• to present your results of this critical assessment in poster form to your colleagues;
• and to contribute to the classroom experience, by participating in the formal presentation of information to discuss to your colleagues.
Prerequisite: ANTHR 390 or 490 or consent of Department.
Required texts:
Christensen, A.M, Passalacqua, N.V. and Bartelink, E.J., Forensic
Anthropology: Current Methods and Practice, Academic Press:New York
Additional Readings: will be listed on eClass.
Note: poster printing cost ~$40
Course requirements:
Discussion Lead Date to be determined 25%
Poster Due Feb 23nd. 20%
Final Exam April 19th check Beartracks 25%
Paper Due April 5th 30%
Weekly Articles for Discussion Leads will be distributed in class and posted on eclass.
Late Assignments
Any student who fails to hand in an assignment on time without the prior permission of the instructor must contact the instructor and the Faculty of Arts. A medical note will not be required; however, at the discretion of the instructor or the Faculty, a Faculty form or statutory declaration regarding the health or family affliction reasons occasioning the missed term work may be required.
Discussion Lead (25% of total grade).
During our first class, we will determine some mutual areas of interest.
Using the syllabus as a guide for topics and times, we will make smaller groups (of 2-3 people each), who will lead seminar discussions during the middle portion of the class. Each student group will then be responsible for choosing 2 or 3 articles, making a concise summary, in PowerPoint form, of that reading material, and will lead an in-class discussion of some of the issues raised by these topics. All students are expected to read and participate in discussion of required readings; your class
participation will be noted.
Poster Presentation (20% of total grade)
The poster presentation will be a conference style presentation of a research topic of your choice, relating directly to forensic anthropology.
Given our course falls when the Frucht Student Conference occurs, I encourage all students to submit their posters to the conference. As the due date for the poster is just prior to the conference (March 2-4th), you should be able to contribute to this professional development. There will be a cost to printing your poster, approximately $40, with the HP plotter in Geography, 3rd flr. Tory. Posters are to be no larger than 100 x 120 cm, with a font size no smaller than 20pt. (24pt better). Poster is due on Feb 23th, and will be available for the Frucht conference after which they will be handed in for grading. Note January 29th is the due date for the abstract submission for the conference.
Recording of lectures is permitted only with the prior written consent of the professor or if recording is part of an approved accommodation plan.
Term Papers (30% of total grade)
The term paper should not exceed 20 pages in length for text (references can take additional pages), doubled spaced, 12pt, 2.5cm margins, with Journal of Forensic Science style citations, or, if you are coming from a different discipline, a major journal in that field. Students must discuss proposed topics for the term paper with the instructor, for approval.
Unapproved topics will not be graded.
Final Exam (25% of total grade)
The final exam will be held during exam week. Students will use the knowledge gained throughout the course to answer a variety of questions on the final exam. This exam will be scheduled for 2 hours during exam.
week.
Lecture Topic Textbook Readings
Jan. 5 Introduction, What is it? Legislation, History poster/paper assignments, discussion leads schedule;
Chaps 1, 2, 15:414-420 Alberta Legislative acts Jan. 12 forensic osteobiography; Report writing; Chap.3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, Jan. 19 forensic archaeology, Scene assessment
Guest: Murray M Marcichiw, S/Sgt
Chap. 6 Jan 26 taphonomy (decomposition,entomology,
weathering, saponification) Chap. 5(January 29th, 2016 Abstracts Frucht due)
Feb. 2 scavenging, water Chap. 5,
Feb. 9 cremation, bone biomechanics Chap 13:363-369, 341- 347
Feb. 16 Reading week: No class, use time to finish
poster
Feb. 23 posters up in class for discussion Posters due
Mar. 1 blunt force and ballistic trauma Chap 13:352-360 Mar. 8 sharp force and dismemberment trauma Chap 13: 360-363 Mar. 15 OCME tour, and Guest lecture:
Deputy Chief
Medical Examiner. Dr. Elizabeth Brook-‐Lim
Mar. 22 radiology, facial reconstruction;
individualizing features; Chap 14
Mar. 29 mass disasters; legal definitions of genocide
and crimes against humanity; Chap 15
Apr. 5 genocide investigations; Chap 15, Paper due April 19th Final exam (Check Beartracks for exact
date)
Undergraduate Student Grading System
The U of A uses a letter grading system with a 4-‐point scale of numerical equivalents. Although marks will be calculated as percentages and then converted to letter grades using the conversion table (below), in accordance with the University guidelines a student’s final grade will be based on both absolute achievement and relative performance in class. For a detailed explanation of the grading system, see Section 23.4 in the University Calendar (www.registrar.ualberta.ca/calendar).
Grades reflect instructors’ judgments of student achievement. When determining your marks for exams I will take into account the quality of your answers and when assessing your final grade I may take into account the quality of your participation in class. The final marks associated with letter grades given in the table below are approximate, e.g., if the highest mark obtained in the course is 96%, I may assign that mark a grade of A+
rather than an A, especially if class participation has been good. I will not, however, assign a letter grade below that indicated in the table, e.g., a final mark of 60% will be assigned at least a C-‐ and will not be dropped down to a letter grade of D, irrespective of attendance or class participation.
Descriptor Letter Grade Approx. Final Mark (%) in this course
A+ 97-‐100
Excellent A 93-‐96
A-‐ 89-‐92
B+ 83-‐88
Good B 78-‐82
B-‐ 73-‐77
C+ 67-‐72
Satisfactory C 63-‐66
C-‐ 60-‐62
Poor D+ 56-‐59
Minimal Pass D 50-‐55
Failure F 0-‐49
