Over the years, we have had the opportunity to offer a lot of fantastic and diverse course offerings as electives to our students. The Summer I Semester in particular is usually jam-packed with a lot of interesting options, and the summer of 2015 was no different!
Forensic Science, taught by adjunct professor Deloria Ballard-Hubbell, was a huge hit with the students. In Forensic Science, students practiced a variety of skills, including: making observations, analyzing facts, identifying patterns, and drawing conclusions in a quest to solve a simulated crime scenario. During each class session, students engaged in lab experiments which required them to closely examine evidence and data.
The topics covered in Forensic Science were incredibly sophisticated; as the Academic Coordinator for CEP, I had the opportunity to observe and engage the students in one of Deloria’s lessons, and I was surprised by how much I learned myself in the process! Our students definitely taught me a thing or two – they blew my mind when discussing how an electrostatic dust lifting process can be used to collect fingerprints from a crime scene – I was so impressed by their knowledge of the topic!
Some of the topics explored in the class included:
- Fingerprinting basics
- Tire and shoe tread imprints
- Forensic entomology (looking at insect life cycles to determine time of death)
- Forensic anthropology (study of human bones)
- Fiber identification
- Physical and chemical properties of unknown substances
- Chromatography
- Handwriting Analysis
- Blood Evidence
What comes after graduation? Many College Experience students, in fact most, choose to remain in Albany. They maintain friendships with their fellow and former graduates, form romantic partnerships, and some get married.