clea koff to speak on campus

Fri., Apr 27

On Wednesday May 2, forensic anthropologist and author Clea Koff will give a lecture entitled "Pursuing Justice From The Grave: Forensic Anthropology in War Crimes Investigations." She will speak from noon-1 p.m. in Engleman Hall A 120. A round-table discussion will follow the lecture in the Physical Anthropology Lab (Engleman Hall C 013) from 1:10 - 2 p.m. Those interested in attending are asked to RSVP for the round-table discussion, as space is limited.

Clea Koff was born in London in 1972. The daughter of documentary filmmakers, she grew up in England, East Africa, and both coasts of the United States. She earned her B.A. in anthropology from Stanford University and studied forensic anthropology at the University of Arizona before being asked to join the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal's first forensic investigation in Rwanda in 1996.  She went on to work as a forensic expert for the UN War Crimes Tribunal in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo, where she was the Deputy Chief Anthropologist of the Tribunal Morgue in Orahovac in 2000.

In 2004, The Bone Woman, a memoir of Koff's experiences with the Tribunals was first published and is now printed in 10 countries and 12 languages. Among other honors, The Bone Woman was awarded the 2005 Nancy Human Rights Book Prize of France; was a Best of 2004 by National Public Radio of the US; a Top 20 Science Book of 2004 by Discover Magazine; and is an Editor's Pick of the Foreign Policy  Association of the United States.

In 2006, Koff, who earned her master's degree in anthropology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was co-coordinator of the Anthropology Laboratory for the United Nations Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus. She has now founded the Missing Persons Identification Resource Center (MPID), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that develops forensic profiles of missing persons to help identify the 40,000 unidentified bodies held by coroners' offices throughout the United States.

This event is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, in collaboration with The School of Arts and Sciences, The Honors College, The Office of International Programs, The Women's Studies Program  and the Departments of Anthropology, Foreign Languages, History,  Philosophy, and Political Science, and supported by the Office of Faculty Development. Coordinated by Professor David Pettigrew. For further information or to RSVP, call him at (203) 392-6778, or email pettigrewd1@southernct.edu.