Register for the Human Skeleton in Forensic Anthropology and Medicine workshop

An artificial human skeleton is prepped to be buried in association with a UHWO Forensics course.

An artificial human skeleton is prepped to be buried in association with a UHWO Forensics course.

Interested in learning more about analyzing human skeletal remains as they relate to forensic anthropology and forensic medicine?

Drs. William Belcher and Jennifer Byrnes, UH West Oʻahu assistant professors in anthropology, are co-instructing, “The Human Skeleton in Forensic Anthropology and Medicine,” a workshop run through the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). This workshop is aimed at college students and practicing forensic scientists, anthropologists, anatomists, physicians, allied health services, law enforcement, museum, university, and other related fields.

The workshop runs at JABSOM from July 24-28, 2017, with an application deadline of Feb. 15, 2017. Enrollment is limited to 45 participants. To apply, submit your updated curriculum vitae or resume; letter of intent stating why you are interested in taking this workshop, what you hope to gain from it, and how you might apply this training in the future; and a list of university courses or other professional training relevant to forensic anthropology, archaeology, forensic science, criminalistics, anatomy, crime scene investigation, or allied fields, to jabsomworkshop@gmail.com.

Cost for the workshop is $500. Attendees are responsible for their own airfare and accommodations (room and board).

The workshop is divided into two components: 1) human osteology and forensic anthropology; and 2) field recovery of human remains in a forensic setting. Working individually and in small teams, participants will analyze a known-identity human skeleton and compile a biological profile consisting of the individual’s age at death, sex, ancestry, stature, bone disease, and trauma.

This is a non-credit educational activity and certificates will be provided to each student upon successful completion of the course.

Students will be provided instruction in the following areas and topics:

  • Handling, preserving, and curating remains. Identifying and siding human bones
  • Methods for estimating age at death, sex, ancestry/race, stature, and personal identity
  • Bone disease and healing
  • Skeletal trauma
  • Video-superimposition
  • DNA in forensic identification
  • Dental radiology
  • Non-metric traits and anatomical variants of the human skeleton
  • Archaeological methods for recovering buried and surface scattered remains
  • Plastination and preservation of human remains
  • 3D photogrammetry and Augmented Virtual Reality of human bones
  • Introduction to functional and musculoskeletal anatomy
  • Osteometrics

This workshop is co-instructed by faculty and staff from JABSOM UH Manoa, UHWO, and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

Image courtesy of UHWO Staff