Forensic Science

Jason D. Hofstein, Ph.D., Director

Forensic Science has become an extremely popular subject in the public eye. It is in the news, film, literature, and television series. Forensic Science is a 19 to 20-hour minor that provides students with a specialization that relates the delicate balance between science, criminal law, crime investigation, and a liberal arts education. The minor allows students from a wide range of disciplines to launch into coursework that examines the scope of knowledge required for understanding and appreciation of forensic detection, resolution, and prosecution.

Although the Forensic Science Minor resides within Chemistry and Biochemistry department, it is designed to allow both non-science and science majors to successfully complete the requirements - the minor is intended to serve the entire student population of Siena College. The minor requires a scientific foundation to compliment a major who will seek employment in fields like education, management, law, medicine, natural science, law enforcement, or criminology. It can also fulfill one’s need to satisfy his or her curiosity. The existing student and the incoming freshman, both interested in forensics, can rest easy in the fact that a minor in forensics can complement their choice of major. The graduate with this minor will be exposed to the types of scientific instrumentation and techniques employed in forensic investigations and how the science interfaces with (1) other facets of the overall conduct of a forensic investigation (such as crime scene investigation, courtroom expert witness testimony, etc.), and (2) the myriad of topics that forensic science encompasses. Further coursework would be required for a more in-depth treatment of these topics to enable, for example, the student to actually maintain the scientific instrumentation and interpret complex analyses.

In addition, students with more extensive science background may wish to complete this minor as well, in which case they would most likely have the prerequisites necessary to complete an upper division science elective course.

The forensic science minor brings together as a specialty, an increasing number of forensic-related courses, which are taught at Siena College to form tracks of study with a forensic backing for use in later aspirations, such as employment in a particular field of forensics, or additional academic achievement. The forensic science minor provides students an opportunity to concentrate additional study and coursework on application of scientific methods in crime investigation