Adam Van Arsdale’s forensic anthropology class

In which teams of students search a simulated crime scene: “I plant a ton of stuff. My dog’s old bones, bottle caps, photo negatives. But half the stuff the students find isn’t stuff I planted. Every little thing is potential information. Then we critically examine what it means to categorize and share what we’ve found. How does that old bone become a scientific fact, or legal evidence, or public knowledge?” Adam Van Arsdale is a professor of anthropology and the department co-chair. He started the Dmanisi Paleoanthropology Field School, an intensive summer research experience at the oldest human fossil site outside of Africa, in the Republic of Georgia. Wellesley students recently uncovered a 1.8 million-year-old human heel bone.