Baylor's Forensic Science Major to Be First of Its Kind in Texas

WACO, Texas -- Baylor University officials have announced the university will offer an undergraduate major in forensic science. The new major is the only forensic science undergraduate major offered in Texas. Dr. Susan Maki-Wallace, assistant professor of anthropology, will supervise students associated with the major.
"The major will provide a broad overview of the seven or eight subfields of forensic science," Maki-Wallace said. "It also will ensure that premed students receive hands-on medical field experience, and if they decide not to go into medicine, these students can still get a good paying job with law enforcement agencies or criminal investigation agencies such as the FBI. I have some students who want to work at the crime scene, and others who can't wait to get out of medical school so they can become medical examiners.
"Dr. David Glassman, who is a diplomate with the American Academy for Forensic Science, was very enthusiastic about the major and told me it will be great for a university in Texas to offer such a program," she added.
Providing substantial field and laboratory experiences along with internships in all the subfields of forensic science, the major will require course work in anthropology, sociology, biology, chemistry, mathematics, neuroscience, political science and physics. Additionally, students will take a forensic anthropology laboratory that examines criminal investigation techniques and a forensic anthropology capstone course that will require an internship with a medical examiner or other forensic science expert.
Maki-Wallace expects 30 to 35 students to immediately declare forensic science as their major. "This is one of the hottest fields out there, and there is significant student interest in the field of forensic science," she said.