MS in Forensic Anthropology

2 years

full-time | in-person

boston university medical campus

Program Overview

This full-time forensic anthropology program offers students a unique opportunity to apply the principles of anthropology, anatomy and osteology to establish biological profiles, excavation of remains, criminal case work and other scenarios with unidentified remains.

Through our comprehensive curriculum and research requirements, students receive extensive training in:

• Osteology
• Forensic anthropological techniques and procedures
• Forensic anthropology field methods
• Biological anthropology theory
• Taphonomy
• Human anatomy
• Crime scene investigation
• Methods of human identification

Mission Statement

The mission of the Forensic Anthropology Program is to provide an in-depth and innovative education to all students that includes a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary and extensive curriculum.  We promote professionalism, leadership, and service in our students.

Research

Our program is one of the only graduate forensic anthropology programs in the United States that is part of a department of anatomy at a major medical center. This setting provides students and faculty access to extensive resources and facilities, including our outdoor research facility and human gross anatomy laboratory.

Classes are lecture and laboratory based with hands-on experience with various skeletal samples. Students complete a graduate level research project that culminates into a full-length thesis or a completed manuscript for submission. Numerous research opportunities are available to students including access to our outdoor research facility, collaboration with the department of radiology, access to skeletal collections at Boston University School of Medicine and other institutions, universities and museums and the availability of of anatomical sciences laboratory.

Boston University Medical Center contains:

• state of the art lecture halls
• seminar rooms
• sophisticated computerized teaching labs
• Boston’s largest biomedical research park

Thanks to our close affiliation with the MS in Biomedical Forensic Sciences, students have the opportunity to pursue training in multiple areas of forensic sciences.

Graduate Outcomes

Graduates will be qualified to continue their graduate education in a doctoral program and/or to be employed in the field of forensic anthropology.