Since its beginnings, UT’s Forensic Anthropology Center has helped expand what the world knows about human decomposition, trained law enforcement officials to solve crimes, and identified remains of unknown individuals.
The center will host a community open house from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 1, at the William M. Bass Forensic Anthropology Building, 125 Medical Center Way. The building is adjacent to the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
It is free and open to the public. Visit the Forensic Anthropology Center website to RSVP for the open house.
“The Forensic Anthropology Center is excited to welcome the community to the Bass Building to meet our amazing students and faculty, learn about forensic anthropology and some of our current research projects, tour the laboratory, and participate in some fun activities for kids and adults,” said Dawnie Steadman, director of the center.
The event will include outdoor activities such as a children’s area for excavation and indoor activities where one can learn how to estimate the age and sex of a skeleton.
Self-guided tours of the laboratory at the Bass Building will be available. But there will be no tours of the Anthropology Research Facility, commonly known as the Body Farm.
There also will be a 1 p.m. ceremony to dedicate a memorial garden to honor donors and their families who have made the Forensic Anthropology Center’s research possible.
Participants should allow ample time to enjoy the open house. The Bass Building is a modest-sized facility, and a large number of visitors are expected to attend.
There will be no onsite parking at the Forensic Anthropology Center.
Parking will be available in a hospital lot to the left of the center. From Interstate 40 East or West, take Exit 386B—Alcoa Highway, 129 South. Take the fourth exit for UT Medical Center, Cherokee Trail (NOT Cherokee Farm). Bear to the right to go onto Cherokee Trail. Take first left just past the hospital onto Medical Center Way SW. Go past the large parking lot (Lot A) on your right. The Bass Building will be on the right, and parking will be in the lot on the left.
