Master of Forensic Science

This course introduces the participant to forensic science paradigms, crime scene investigation and evidence recognition. Collection, documentation and processing evidence are addressed. The course will include an introduction to crime scene photography. Students will be oriented in professional values, concepts, and ethics.

Prerequisite(s): Admittance to the Forensic Science graduate program.

The course introduces the participant to the forensic science paradigms regarding evidence processing, including lab practices, statistical evaluation of the evidence, and scene reconstruction.

Prerequisite(s): FORSC 505 Fundamentals of Crime Scene Investigation.

In the course, the elements of violent crimes will be reviewed, as well as criminal procedure, constitutional and statutory limitations of criminal investigation, the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments, and writing search warrants and affidavits. The requirements of conviction, or burden of proof (criminal vs. civil standards), and rules and policies pertaining to evidence will be studied.

Prerequisite(s): Admittance to the Forensic Science graduate program.

This course provides an overview of death investigation. The specialties of forensic pathology, forensic odontology, forensic anthropology, and forensic entomology are introduced and the expectations of the death investigator regarding the specialist outlined. Forensic science technique related to identifying the victim(s), establishing time of death, cause and manner of death, postmortem interval, and presumptive and confirmed identifications are presented.

Prerequisite(s): Admittance to the Forensic Science graduation program.

In this course, the participants will develop a summary of salient facts in a case investigation reconstruction. The summary will include a timeline of the crime event and subsequent investigation, an index of physical evidence with results of forensic analyses citing potential for additional testing due to new technology, a listing of witnesses, suspects and persons of interest with suggestions for further interviews and new investigative leads.

Prerequisite(s): Admittance to the Forensic Science graduation program.

This course is designed to present the students with a real life crime to work from beginning to end. Students will be assigned to groups that include representatives from the behavioral sciences, biology/chemistry, and investigative sciences tracks. Each investigative team will be assigned a case to work for the duration of the course. This will include processing the scene, processing and evaluating evidence, developing victim and offender profiles, following up on leads, and seeing the case through to completion in either a grand jury or court room simulation.

Prerequisite(s): Satisfactory completion of FORSC 505 Fundamentals of Crime Scene Investigation, FORSC 506 Fundamentals of Evidence Processing, FORSC 507 Criminal Law and the Law of Evidence, FORSC 508 Medicolegal Death Investigation, FORSC 509 Cold Case Practicum, and FORSC 597 Internship.

The internship consists of 90 contact hours in a medical examiner's or coroner's office. The student will participate in the activities of the office and observe a minimum of six autopsies. The course will allow the student to put into practice the theoretical material learned in the prerequisite courses. The student will turn in a reflective essay about their internship. This will be a synopsis of what the student learned over the course of the internship. The paper will discuss what materials learned during the master's program were reinforced by the internship and what procedures differed from what was learned in the program.

Prerequisite(s): FORSC 505 Fundamentals of Crime Scene Investigation, FORSC 506 Fundamentals of Evidence Processing, FORSC 507 Criminal Law and the Law of Evidence, and FORSC 508 Medicolegal Death Investigation with grades of "B-" or better; proof of completion of the three-shot Hepatitis B series of inoculations (should be completed prior to registration of course; instructor may accept proof that inoculations are in process, with the understanding that they will be completed when student leaves for internship). A current tetanus is recommended. Some internship sites may require a recent TB test and/or other additional requirements.

This course focuses on recognizing, protecting, and preserving all prospective physical evidence at a crime scene. Crime scene reconstruction involving the use of the scientific method and classical logic will be discussed. Students will learn about crime scene photography methods, making impressions from imprints, collecting fingerprints and trace evidence, and analyzing and interpreting blood spatter evidence through lectures and hands-on experiences.

Prerequisite(s): FORSC 505 Fundamentals of Crime Scene Investigation, FORSC 506 Fundamentals of Evidence Processing, FORSC 507 Criminal Law and the Law of Evidence, FORSC 508 Medicolegal Death Investigation, FORSC 509 Cold Case Practicum, and FORSC 597 Internship with grades "B-" or better.

Forensic psychology is a growing and popular field of inquiry. Forensic psychology is the application of psychological insights, concepts, and skills to the understanding and functioning of the legal and criminal justice system. Students will examine the interaction between theories and applications of psychology and the practice of civil and criminal law. Insanity, malpractice, competency, civil commitment, violence, jury selection, and expert-witness testimony will be discussed.

Prerequisite(s): FORSC 515 Advanced Crime Scene Investigation or FORSC 540 Analytical Sciences as Bases for Forensic Analyses with grades of "B-" or better; Abnormal Psychology, Social Psychology, and Personality Psychology, or permission of the instructor.

This course focuses on the repeat offender, most notably the serial murderer. This course includes an examination of a variety of violent and nonviolent repeat offender crimes (i.e., serial rape, stalking, "peepers") and concentrates on the nature of the repeat offender and the personality characteristics that tend to be associated with this type of criminal.

Prerequisite(s): FORSC 515 Advanced Crime Scene Investigation or FORSC 540 Analytical Sciences as Bases for Forensic Analyses with grades of "B-" or better; Abnormal Psychology, Social Psychology, and Personality Psychology, or permission of the instructor.

Behavior profiling is a part of a larger disciplines call Criminal Investigative Analysis (CIA). This course provides students with a theoretical and practical approach to CIA. Various aspects of CIA are discussed, such a victimology, equivocal death analysis, personality assessment, offender development and others.

Prerequisite(s): FORSC 515 Advanced Crime Scene Investigation or FORSC 540 Analytical Sciences as Bases for Forensic Analyses with grades of "B-" or better; Abnormal Psychology; Social Psychology; Personality Psychology; or permission of the instructor.

This course will provide the student with an introduction to the discipline of threat assessment. This will be accomplished through exposure to the principles of threat assessment, numerous categories of threatening behavior and by studying examples of threatening incidents. This course will briefly cover a broad spectrum of topics in the threat assessment and management field. Topics to be covered include threat assessment theory, behavioral assessment, stalking, workplace violence, school violence, incident intervention, interviewing and threat management.

An opportunity for a student to engage in an individually arranged internship in an area closely aligned with his/her interests and goals. Students will also engage in a final research project in an area of interest to them. Students will split the internship time and research time, as agreed upon through a contract with the program director. One of the requirements for graduation is a formal presentation of the research project. This presentation may occur at a local, regional, nation, or international conference. The most likely place the presentation will occur is in front of program students, faculty, and interested community member at the annual Nebraska Wesleyan University Forensic Science Symposium. May not be repeated.

Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor of program director and completion of two courses in chosen track.

It has been said that over 90% of crimes involve some kind of document evidence.  This course addresses handwriting analysis, paper and ink identification, and handwriting authentication and the use of documenting evidence as evidence.

Prerequisite(s): FORSC 515 Advanced Crime Scene Investigation or FORSC 540 Analytical Sciences as Bases for Forensic Analyses with grades of "B-" or better.

This course covers the basic concepts of friction ridge identification through lectures and practical exercises designed to provide students with the fundamental knowledge of the friction ridge detail individualization. Aspects of friction skin examination will be explored and the challenges associated with the science will be discussed. Students will gain knowledge of the basic fingerprint pattern recognition, three levels of detail and the ACE-V methodology as the basis of the examination process. Aspects of the individualization of friction ridges, and how the concepts and methods apply to other impression evidence will also be discussed.

Pre-requisite(s): FORSC 505 Fundamentals of Crime Scene Investigation, FORSC 506 Fundamentals of Evidence Processing, FORSC 507 Criminal Law and the Law of Evidence, FORSC 508 Medicolegal Death Investigation, FORSC 509 Cold Case Practicum, and FORSC 597 Internship with grades of B- or better.

This course examines the various forensic investigatory topics treated during the course of the MFS program, together with expansion of a few topics not examined in detail during the program, all in the context of the forensic investigation of criminal wrongdoing, and in the environment created by the National Research Council report to Congress in 2009. The use of scientific method as such, and as part of the ethical requirements for good investigation, forms the framework for intellectually examining the totality of a crime scene investigation. The course will include expanded topics such as discovery, excavation and examination of human remains.