Program Overview

The forensic anthropology option is a way to satisfy the requirements for the Master of Arts (MA) degree in anthropology while concentrating on classes of relevance to forensic anthropology.  There are three pathways to doing this:

Thesis Track
Students may develop and demonstrate research skill by formulating a research project designed to contribute original knowledge to the field of forensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, human variation, or human skeletal biology, with the findings presented in a thesis. Pursuing this track will help the student prepare to pursue a career as a forensic or physical/biological anthropologist, or to continue their graduate education toward a doctorate.

Professional Paper Track
Students may develop and demonstrate competency in the skills forensic anthropologists by undertaking a project that results in a report, exhibit, or other scholarly contribution of the sort produced by professionals in the field. A scholarly work published in a refereed journal or other reviewed forum is also considered a professional paper. Due to the limited nature of our skeletal collection, many students choose to analyze a case from the teaching collection and produce a comprehensive case report type of professional paper. Pursuing this track will help the student prepare for a career as a forensic anthropologist or other career that emphasizes the practical application of skills in skeletal analysis.

The Portfolio Track
(The Graduate School refers to this as a non-thesis option)  Students may design a MA program in which they specify aset of goals and a set of courses and other experiences that lead to achievement of these goals. Students demonstrate progress toward and satisfaction of their goals by collecting the work produced in their courses and other experiences into a portfolio. This track requires more course work than the thesis track or professional paper track. This track is designed for students who do not plan to work professionally as a forensic orphysical/biological anthropologist or who plan to use their MA degree inanother context (for example, educators seeking an MA degree in a field of science).