What can you tell me about Forensic Anthropology and Forensic Facial Reconstruction?

Question

I am interested in the aforementioned fields, but for the latter I could find no schools that offered degree programs. Is it still a valid career? I asked about it once before, but only received one answer, which led to my discovering a very accredited woman who offers certificate programs in forensic facial reconstruction. Due to it only being a certificate program, I thought it would be a good idea to back it up with a degree in forensic anthropology. What I have been able to find on the two fields is extremely limited, so any information would be greatly appreciated.

For some specific information:

--Which schools are best, yet affordable? (I live on the East Coast, so schools in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia would be best).

--What studies would be required?

--What sort of income could I expect?

--What hours should I expect?

--Where should I live if I want to ground my career?

etc.

Answer 1

I would consider that you go to Cornell University it's located in upstate New York(Ithaca) it has a very good anthropology department I don't really know the price of attending. You should live in a big city because with more people their will be more murders.

Answer 2

Well there's not a really good list of forensic anthropology schools out there yet, but it's coming soon.  However, what I can tell you is that if you're wanting to go into forensic facial reconstruction, having a background in forensic anthropology is an excellent idea.  A bachelor's degree in anthropology with a focus on forensics is fairly easy to find at a lot of schools, but it's the Master's program with a specialization in forensics that is limited to just 6 schools in the US as of now.  

The field of facial reconstruction is a bit different, it started out as more a division of the art field, but has since started moving more towards forensic anthropology.  The forensic artist I happen to know is simply trained in art and has learned how to see a face given just bone.  She is now learning about the field of forensic anthropology and employing her newfound knowledge to her job.  On the other hand, a lot of forensic anthropology programs are teaching students how to to facial reconstruction and many forensic anthropologists today are quite efficient at reconstructing a face.

My advice to you would be to approach this with training in both fields.  Try to find a school that employs a working forensic anthropologist as a professor but also has a good art program.  If you can learn the anthropological aspect and combine it with knowledge about human facial features from the artistic aspect, I think that would make you quite valuable.

As far as income and hours, it really would depend on if you got a job with a medical examiner's office or with a university, as both would be very different.  As far as where to live, if you're able to get trained in both forensic anthropology and art, then live around a city that has a large ME's office because you'll find a lot of work with remains from the city itself and from smaller outlying cities that don't have the required facilities.  Keep checking for a list of schools, at some point will be a full compilation of schools that teach forensic anthropology posted online.  Even though what I have for you is a bit limited, hope it helps.