On October 11th and 12th held a symposium titled, “Documenting Violence,” which included discussions of violent crimes and mass murders in Guatemala, the former Yugoslavia, and the U.S., including the events of September 11, 2001. Forensic science was the focus of the second evening, and the talks provided an excellent preview of material taught in KSU’s new Forensic Anthropology courses.
Dr. Linda Spurlock (KSU Anthropology) presented her work on 2-D and 3-D facial reconstructions, and postmortem sketches of unidentified crime victims. She described and displayed some of her case studies for the medical examiners’ offices of Northeast Ohio. Dr. Spurlock teaches ANTH 18095 Introduction to Forensic Anthropology and ANTH 48023/58023.
(Dr. Spurlock explains forensic facial reconstruction.)
Dr. Anthony Tosi (KSU Anthropology) discussed his specialized ‘Touch-DNA’ analysis of homicides in New York City. He is one of only 25 people in the United States specifically trained to interpret low-copy DNA results and has testified to homicides in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. Dr. Tosi teaches ANTH 28300 “Introduction to Forensic Genetics” and ANTH 48300 “Advanced Forensic Genetics.”
(Dr. Tosi explains his work on ‘Touch-DNA.’)
Dr. Zoran Budimlija (Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, University of Pennsylvania) discussed the identification of victims in mass graves from the Yugoslav Wars and his role as a team leader of the 9-11 World Trade Center Human Identification Project while working in the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in New York City. Dr. Budimlija is an occasional visitor and guest lecturer for forensic courses at KSU.
(Left, PhD candidate Dexter Zirkle, Right, Dr. Budimlija)