Introduction to Forensic Anthropology ASM 275, Section 1737, Glendale Community College, Fall 2008 Instructor: Dr. P. James Macaluso Email: paul.macaluso@gcmail.maricopa.edu Phone: 480-731-8866, Mailbox #14118 Office Hours: By appointment Class Location: HU-101 Class Time: Tuesday & Thursday 1:00-2:15 pm Catalogue Description: Survey the role of forensic anthropologist, from the crime scene to the courtroom. Understand how a forensic anthropologist can determine life history of an individual. Contributions of forensic anthropology to crime scene and other legal investigations. How forensic anthropology is used to decipher historic cases, and how it is depicted in popular culture. Case studies involving criminal investigations, mass disaster incidents, and global human rights issues. Course Objectives: This course provides a broad overview of forensic anthropology, an applied field of biological anthropology that seeks to recover, identify, and evaluate human skeletal remains within a medico-legal context. In this course, students will learn: to identify the bones of the human skeleton; recovery techniques and initial treatment of forensic material; the techniques used by forensic anthropologists to determine age at death, sex, ancestry, and stature from the human skeleton; how pathological and occupational markers can help identify skeletal remains; and how forensic anthropologists estimate time since death and interpret blunt, sharp, and gunshot trauma to bone. Finally, students will become familiar with the application of forensic anthropology to human rights missions, military identifications, and mass fatalities. This course will not make students competent to carry out forensic anthropological investigations themselves, but rather will help students develop an informal appreciation for, and basic familiarity with, the field of forensic anthropology. The course competencies may be found at: http://www.dist.maricopa.edu/cgi-bin/cpr.pl?trm=20086&crs=asm 275&inst=99. Required Text: The following book has been assigned for this course and is available for purchase at the College Bookstore. Steadman, D.W. (2008). Hard Evidence: Case Studies in Forensic Anthropology. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-030567-7. Reserve Materials: These books are available for reference at the library reserve desk (2-hour loan). Ubelaker, D.H. (1989). Human Skeletal Remains: Excavation, Analysis, Interpretation; 2 nd Edition. Washington, DC: Taraxacum. ISBN: 0960282254. Whitehead, P.F.; Sacco, W.K.; Hochgraf, S.B. (2005). A Photographic Atlas for Physical Anthropology. Morton Publishing, ISBN-13: 9780895825728. White, T.D. (2000). Human Osteology, 2 nd Edition. San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN: 0127466126. 1
Course Format: Class meetings will consist primarily of instructor lectures; however, several class periods will incorporate laboratory sessions, as well as videos. Each student is responsible for completing the assigned readings before the scheduled class in order to more effectively understand the lecture material and to participate in any class discussions. Students are also encouraged to bring in relevant news articles and information from the Internet, newspapers, and popular magazines for class discussion. Time will be made available to do so if the instructor is notified prior to class. Attendance: Attendance will be taken each class according to GCC policy. A total of three (3) unexcused absences (including coming in late, leaving early, or missing entire classes) may be accrued without penalty. An unexcused absence is one for which no supporting documentation (e.g. from a doctor) is provided. Points will be deducted at a rate of five (5) points per absence after that. Excessive absences may result in withdrawal from the course. In addition, absence does have several other consequences. Instruction will include some textbook content, but all lectures will include material not found in the course reader. Thus, missing lecture will make it considerably more difficult for you to perform well on exams. If a student misses a class meeting it is his or her responsibility to get lecture notes from a classmate; I do not repeat lectures or loan out my notes. You may also miss one of the lab sessions when you are absent from class. It is not possible to make up some missed class work such as videos, the osteology quiz, and the skeletal identification laboratory assignment. Therefore, attendance is required for the successful completion of the course. Students are also encouraged to utilize the additional resources provided throughout the course, such as optional readings placed on reserve at the library and relevant web pages listed at the end of some lectures. Human Osteology Quiz: Because it is important for students of forensic anthropology to have a working knowledge of the human skeleton, two class periods will be spent learning about human bones. This will include both a lecture and lab component. Students will then take a quiz, worth 25 points, to display their knowledge of the human skeleton. The quiz may include multiple-choice, matching, fill-in, and short answer questions. There also may be some identification of human bone, either from pictures or skeletal material. Please make a note of the date and time of the osteology quiz. There are no make-ups for the osteology quiz. Skeletal Identification Laboratory Assignment: Each student will participate in a lab session held during two class periods that will demonstrate some of the techniques used by forensic anthropologists to estimate age at death, sex, ancestry, and stature of unidentified human skeletal remains. Each student will also complete a short assignment, worth 25 points, based on skeletal material presented in the lab session. There are no make-ups for the lab assignment. Forensic Anthropology Investigation Report: Each student will also be required to submit a 4-5 page report, worth 75 points, highlighting the circumstances, background, specific methods used, and results of a particular forensic anthropology investigation. Possible case studies to research and formatting instructions will be discussed in class at a later date. Please make a note of the due date. No late reports will be accepted. Exams: There will be two examinations in this course, worth 125 points each. Exams will not be cumulative, but the second exam may cover some relevant material from the first part of the course. Exams cover all material presented in lectures, slides, videos, laboratory demonstrations, and course readings, and may include multiple-choice, true-false, matching, fill-in, short identification, and essay questions. 2
Make-up exams are not allowed except in the case of extreme emergence or illness (oversleeping and car trouble are not valid excuses). Supporting documentation for such absences is strongly encouraged. You must contact me the day of the test (or before) if you are to miss an exam. If you do not contact me that day, your grade will be lowered 5 points for each day you wait. Make-up exams are at my discretion and may be in a completely different format than that given in class. Make-up exams must be completed within one week of the exam date and no one may take more than one make-up exam in the course. To allow any other policy is simple not fair to the great majority of students who do take the exams at the scheduled time. Grading: Osteology Quiz grade + Skeletal Identification Laboratory grade + Midterm Exam grade + Final Exam grade + Forensic Report grade = Total Points. A = 375-337, B = 336-300, C = 299-262, D = 261-225, F = below 225. Also, please note that a grade of C or higher is required for transfer credit to any university. Use the table below to record grades you receive on assignments and exams. Osteology Quiz Identification Lab Forensic Report Midterm Exam Final Exam Points Grade 25 25 75 125 125 375 Extra Credit: I may ask an extra credit question on a quiz or exam, but no other extra credit such as additional papers will be given. Academic Misconduct: Under no circumstances will cheating, which includes plagiarism, be tolerated. If cheating is detected at any time during examinations or while grading assignments, all participants will receive a failing grade in the course. Further sanctions imposed by the college may include academic suspension or expulsion. You are advised to consult the current GCC Student Handbook for any questions that you may have concerning academic misconduct. Class Conduct: Students are expected to follow GCC s rules of conduct. Prior to the start of class all electronic devices, including cell phones, PDAs, and ipods, must be turned-off and stored in your purse, backpack, or other location where it is not accessible to you, during class. Please do not make private comments or carry on private conversations during class, as this is distracting to me and other students in the course. If you have a question or comment, please direct it to me. In addition, please refrain from engaging in the following activities during class as it is disruptive and disrespectful to me and fellow students: sharpening pencils, disposing of trash, putting on make-up and combing hair, leaving to go to the bathroom, eating, sleeping, reading, text-messaging, or doing any other unrelated class activities. Anyone engaging in these activities will be asked to leave the classroom and will be counted absent for the day in question, and thus receive a zero on any assignment completed that day. Also, please do not start packing up your belongings until I have finished lecturing; it makes significant noise and is distracting to me and to other students who are trying to hear what I have to say. Special Accommodations: If you have a disability that may have some impact on your work in this class and for which you may require accommodations, please notify both me and the Disability Services and Resources Office located in TDS-100 (623-845-3080) as early as possible in the semester. 3
Tentative Course Outline and Reading Schedule: Dates and topics are tentative and subject to change depending on the pace or needs of the class. Students are responsible for any changes in the syllabus that are announced in class whether the student is present or not. Dates Lecture Topics Readings 8/26 8/28 Introduction to the Course History of Forensic Anthropology Section I Introduction pp. 23-25; Chapter 3 9/2 Human Osteology and Odontology (lecture) 9/4 Human Osteology and Odontology (lab) Chapters 1 and 4 9/9 9/11 Establishing the Forensic Context Ethical & Legal Considerations Chapters 16 and 18 Chapter 6; Section I pp. 25-30 9/16 9/18 Human Osteology Quiz Recovery Scene Methods Section II Introduction pp. 87-96; Chapters 7 and 9 9/23 9/25 Estimating Time Since Death Film: Body Detectives, Forensic Anthropology at the Body Farm Section III Introduction pp. 127-137; Chapter 12 9/30 Assessing Ancestry 10/2 Determination of Sex Chapters 1 and 2 10/7 Estimation of Age at Death 10/9 Calculation of Stature Chapters 1 and 13 10/14 10/16 Skeletal Identification Lab Skeletal Identification Lab; Review for midterm 10/21 Midterm Exam 10/23 Antemortem Skeletal Conditions Chapter 5 10/28 10/30 Identification Methods Film: Anastasia, Dead or Alive? Section IV Introduction pp. 197-204; Chapters 15 and 17 11/4 11/6 Overview of Skeletal Trauma Blunt Force Trauma Section II Introduction pp. 128-129; Chapters 10 and 11 11/11 Projectile Trauma 11/13 Sharp & Miscellaneous Trauma Chapter 10 11/18 Postmortem Changes to Bone 11/20 Postmortem Changes and Trauma Interpretation Exercise Chapter 14 11/25 11/27 Film: The Great Inca Rebellion; Case Study Reports Due No class: Thanksgiving Section V Introduction pp. 245-247; Chapters 19 and 20 12/2 12/4 Mass Fatalities Military Identifications; Human Rights Investigations Section V Introduction pp. 247-255; Chapters 8, 21, 22 12/9 12/11 Film: Following Antigone, F.A. & Human Rights Investigations Review for final; Course evaluations 12/16 Final Exam (1:00-3:50pm) 4
Syllabus Acknowledgement ASM 275: Introduction to Forensic Anthropology Glendale Community College, Fall 2008 I acknowledge by signing below that I have received the syllabus for the course indicated above. I have reviewed the syllabus and understand the objectives of this course. I understand the policies and procedures set forth in the syllabus are the terms and conditions under which I am taking this class and that no exceptions will be made. Furthermore, I understand how my performance will be evaluated and how my final grade will be determined. I recognize that success in this course is directly related to my attendance, completing assignments on time, and adequate study and preparation time. I am also aware of my instructor s office hours, and I know how to contact him for help with and/or clarification of course content and procedures. I understand that should I stop attending class, I must officially withdraw from the course through the Registrar s Office and that if I fail to officially withdraw from the course, the Registrar s Office may record a grade of an F for this course on my official transcript. Student Signature: Print Name: Date: Phone Number: Email Address: Providing your phone number and email address will make it easier if I have to contact you later in the semester. 5