So I want to go to Durham

[Heather]

Hi

So I figured I would be better off posting on a British site than an American one about this. I'm an American who wants badly to go to U of Durham for my MSc in paleopathology and I would like to get some info on the program from those who might be in it. Also, I am curious how difficult it is to get accepted. There isn't anywhere in the states to get a degree specifically in paleopathology, which is why I am applying...plus (a big plus)...I would be able to excavate burials, which is not something done much in the states thanks to the only old bones in our ground are Native American and NAGPRA gets in the way. So any input people could give me would be grand. Thanks!

Heather

[troll]

Contact the uni direct! Have you thought about an MSc in osteoarchaeology? It sounds like you are bustin to excavate Human remains-palaeopathologists are more likely to spend most of their career in an office dealing with "dry" bones.Osteo teaches palaeopathology as a fundamental component and you are more use on-site to a director(in uk) as an osteo. Plenty of uni over here teach osteo-also, how about forensic archaeology? If it helps, Durham is seen as one of the best uni in UK!

[Heather]

Yes I am considering the osteoarch program as well. My undergrad is in archaeology and forensic anthropology...so I already have a good osteo background. And you're right, I would like to be more in the field. Thanks for the input.

Heather

[lucy78green]

I've actually just finished my masters there, if you want to e-mail me at lucyp.chapman @ ntlworld.com

Lucy

[sniper]

how about Bradford. did my MSc in Osteo and palaeo there and had a great time. am now working as an osteo full time, and get called out to site, get to dig, and get to play around with dead people in a lab. perfect job really

i spend my days rummaging around in dead people

[Heather]

I am applying to both Bradford and Durham. I have been told many times however, that Bradford's program is really basic after coming from an american forensic anthro program. Are the osteology courses designed for people who don't know bones yet, or are there classes that are more advanced for people like me who pretty much majored in bones during my undergrad?

And you hit the nail on the head...pretty much all I want to do is go out to sites and dig up the skeletons, take them back to the lab and study them (they don't allow that so much in the states).

[the invisible man]

Check out the website, and give them a ring for a chat about it, they're nice people at Bradford!:D And there are quite a few American post-grads there doing things with bones.

See www.brad.ac.uk

[sniper]

well, I wouldn't say that the course at Bradford was "basic", but then I had done some bones stuff before but not that much. There was a lot of stuff on musculo-skeletal anatomy and recognising and siding bones and fragments of bones, basically everything you need to be able to do what you want to do. I would say that even if you have done a lot of it before, it is always good to revise it, and it will give you the necessary qualification to be able to get work as an osteo. The course also gives you the opportunity to study mortuary behaviour, taphonomy and other things that are not strictly osteology.

++ i spend my days rummaging around in dead people ++

[Heather]

Alright...the taphonomy part is what I would like to do more of of course. Although I could side and name every feature on a given bone fragment blindfolded...literally, thats how we were tested. Thats why I'm hoping that when I get to a skeletal class out there I won't be wasting my time and money on an introductory type class. Thats just what a couple friends of mine have said and a reference of mine pointed out.

[lucy78green]

Some of the course that I did would probably be a bit basic for you but a few of the Americans in my class who had done Phys Anth learned something new and the basic stuff was just one lab for the first ten weeks. The rest of what we did was mostly pathology once we'd picked up the anatomy

Lucy

[Heather]

Good, that makes me feel a better. I will be sending out my apps as soon as I get my transcripts from my college. Now I just have to cross my fingers....and get cracking to make enough money for some tuition and a roof over my head, the dollar is horrible against the pound and euro now.

[Heather]

Hi again...I sent out my apps to Durham and Bradford.

To anyone who has applied to these schools...how long did it take for the school to send a response back, be it acceptance or rejection?

Just wondering how long I have to cross my fingers!