Forensic Anthropology short course in South Africa

13/Jul/2010

The Forensic Anthropology Research Centre has the pleasure of offering a three-day short course in applied anthropology for forensic pathologists, postgraduate students in the medical sciences, and members of law enforcement who are involved with crime scene investigations. The course is to take place from 16 to 18 August, 2010 at the Forensic Pathology Services in Johannesburg. Course fee is R1500, and 12 CPD points are to be awarded for the afternoon seminar sessions.

Two hands-on morning sessions (8:30 to 12:00 am) are to run concurrently each day and are to be led by both Dr. Steven A. Symes with registered forensic pathologists from FPS: Johannesburg, and Dr. Ericka N. L’Abbé with forensic anthropologists from the University of Pretoria. These volunteer sessions are to take place in the morgue and are to involve students and forensic pathologists in the use of an anthropologist at a medico-legal autopsy and in the handling and analysis of skeletal material. These sessions are to be provided at no additional cost to the attendees and no CPD points are to be awarded. The goal of which is to formulate relationships between practitioners within the two disciplines and to provide education and research opportunities for students.

Three afternoon seminars (1 to 5 pm) are to be presented on the retention and use of bone as evidence in a death investigation, the interpretation of post-cranial gunshot wounds in bone tissue, and on the examination of cut and saw mark injuries in bone with regard to stabbings and dismemberment. These seminars are to be presented by Professor Steven A. Symes from Mercyhurst College in the USA. He is a leading expert in saw and knife mark analysis, postmortem burn patterns and in the interpretation of traumatic injury from bone. Professor Symes is one of 85 members of the American Board of Forensic Anthropologists (D-ABFA) and is a sought-after consultant in criminal cases. He has lectured, consulted or testified on trauma cases, in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Indonesia, Kosovo, Europe and South Africa.

For additional information about the course programme, registration and payment, please contact Ms. Claire Venter (claire.venter@up.ac.za).

(Tags: anthropology, forensic, training)