Forensic Science: Bones, Bugs, and Poisons

Forensic Science: Bones, Bugs, and Poisons focuses on Forensic Anthropology, Forensic Toxicology, Forensic Entomology, Entomotoxicology, and Forensic Linguistic Analysis.

In our discussion of Forensic Anthropology, we will discuss:
•	History of Forensic Anthropology
•	General discussion of the functions and structure of bones
•	Discussion of areas of the skeleton used for determination of characteristics, such as age, gender, height, weight, medical issues, and to a lesser extent, region of origin.
•	Specific uses of the jaw and teeth in estimating period of life/death and potential for confirming identity once a tentative identification is made.
•	The use of Stable Isotope Analysis to help determine approximate locations of birth and early years of life.
•	Case studies, both recent and involving archaeological specimens.

Our discussion of Forensic Toxicology will cover:

•	The development of the field of forensic toxicology
•	The effects of poisons, such as cyanide, arsenic, and ricin
•	The methods used to identify poisons
•	Case studies involving the use of poisons

Our discussion of Forensic Entomology will cover:

•	Development of the field of Forensic Entomology
•	The ways insects can be used in investigations
•	Concepts such as succession in determining postmortem interval (PMI)
•	Factors affecting insect infestation
•	Case studies

Our discussion of Forensic Linguistic Analysis and Handwriting Analysis will cover:
•	Analysis of multiple writings from general to specific
•	Analysis of tone and overall sound of the writing
•	Analysis of vocabulary and sentence structure
•	Examination of specific areas of punctuation that prove most useful in connecting writings from the same author
•	Regional and national variations in use of specific words or idioms
•	Identification of specific words that a person may use noticeably more often than is generally seen, and discussion of the likelihood of such clues being adopted by copycats.
•	Case studies of linguistic content, and yes, we may have to dip into the Zodiac bag in this section.
•	Discussion of the methods employed by handwriting analysts.
•	Discussion of ways to minimize the possibility that a suspect will successfully fake their handwriting while giving samples
•	Analysis of handwriting in real cases to determine the level of confidence in a match or exclusion.
•	Analysis of writing samples with some being written by the same person, in an attempt to link writings and authors, either in terms of linguistic content or handwriting.

We will finish with our mock scene which will cover about two and a half sessions.  This case is different from those in my other classes, in that we are being called in to examine bones (including skulls) and documents in a historical case.  There will be plenty of skeletons, pirates, poisons, conflict between early colonists and Native Americans, a hurricane, a raging fire, and one skeleton that seems oddly out of place.

As with my other forensic science classes, this class will be a discussion-based class that aims to encourage students to think about interesting and complex concepts and cases.