CSI Townsville

I am officially a scholar. Well, not really, but I did complete my first week of classes. I am taking the following. Australian People: an Introduction to the Social Sciences; Coral Reef Geomorphology; Environmental Law and Policy and I will explain my last class in a moment. I actually really think I am going to like all of my classes. All of my lecturers seems rather engaging and I have a nice mix of big lecture classes and other more "Allegheny" sized classes. Not too much work or readings to do, but I will give it time. I have heard that the key to doing well here in Australia is simply to keep up with the work and the readings. They classes are structured a bit different in the states. Here, our final exam and one essay might make up our entire grade for the class; whereas in the states, there are normally a number of tests, quizzes and papers. Nonetheless, bring it James Cook University, bring it.

As for my last class, picture this. Headquarters has just rang; they have found a human bones recently unearthed in a suburban backyard by a Jack Russel Terrier. They send myself, a member of the forensics unit, straight to the scene in order to collect the skeleton to reconstruct and analyze back at the lab. My partner makes small talk as we navigate the highway; I indulge in a second doughnut. If we are lucky, we will be able to use DNA and our knowledge of facial reconstructions and human remains to not only identify the victim and the cause of death, but more importantly the killer. This is what I was imagining when I enrolled in course Forensic Archaeology. Not the case.

I was as giddy as a school girl going to this class on Thursday, picturing myself as a young, more scholarly member of the CSI Las Vegas team. You can imagine how disappointed I was when the lecturer asked us to define the word forensic. Some chick in the back raised her hand and gave this answer about ethics and legality and I was like "child please, this here is CSI we are dealing with." But no, no, she was right! Forensic Archaeology is the study of the ethics and legality of studying, reconstructing and digging for human remains. Say what?! The lecturer specifically said that "this is not going to be like CSI." I was backslash am devastated.

The class does still have a chance to prove me wrong. We have about 4 weeks on biological anthropology, which, if you didn't know, is the "CSI stuff." The rest of the class, we will talk about how methods they use and all that jazz. I am trying to keep an open mind. Well actually, I sort of have to because I can't really drop out of the class or fit any other class I am interested in into my schedule. Fail. Oh well, I got this.