Barry McNamara  |  Published October 22, 2018

Celebrating Investigative Forensics

‘Race & Sherlock Holmes – 100 Years’ topic of Oct. 24 talk.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – A talk about Sherlock Holmes by an award-winning scholar will be the first event sponsored by Monmouth College’s new investigative forensics minor.

ANN McCLELLAN: Scholar will speak about the fictional father of investigative forensics, Sherlock... ANN McCLELLAN: Scholar will speak about the fictional father of investigative forensics, Sherlock Holmes, at 7 p.m. Oct. 24 in the Barnes Electronic Classroom of Hewes Library.Plymouth State (N.H.) University professor Ann McClellan will speak about the fictional father of investigative forensics, Sherlock Holmes, at 7 p.m. Oct. 24 in the Barnes Electronic Classroom of Hewes Library. Titled “Race & Sherlock Holmes – 100 Years,” her talk is free and open to the public.

“I knew she’d be a good speaker to bring to campus,” said Monmouth history professor Christine Myers, who has collaborated with McClellan on projects involving pop culture and women in higher education. “The students are going to love her.”

McClellan’s visit to Monmouth is also sponsored by the College’s departments of English and history.

Myers, who helped create the investigative forensics minor, said Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle is largely responsible for launching modern forensics through his Sherlock Holmes novels.

“Modern forensics really started with Sherlock Holmes,” she said. “It got kick-started through a fictional character.”

Myers said many scholars speculate that the mystery-solving detective was based on Joseph Bell, who was one of Doyle’s science professors at the University of Edinburgh.

At Plymouth State, McClellan was awarded the equivalent of Monmouth’s Hatch Award in both scholarship and service in 2016. A 20th-century British literature professor, McClellan has authored a forthcoming a book, Sherlock’s World: Fanfiction and the Reimagining of BBC’s Sherlock.

“Modern forensics really started with Sherlock Holmes.”

While on campus, McClellan will meet with students in the English course “Nineteenth-Century Mysteries” and the history course “Violence in Victorian Britain.”

Monmouth’s investigative minor is a five-credit minor that deepens students’ understanding of how evidence is studied and applied in a variety of academic disciplines.

In May, students in the minor can take a 10-day trip to London and Edinburgh through the course “Chemistry, Codes and Crimes.”

Related Stories

Back to News & Events

Did you know?

  • <aside class="factoid-item"><div class="factoid-item-text"><p> Monmouth College offers several international trips each year during 2-week Scots Terms in January and May. Recently students have traveled to Botswana, Greece, Scotland, Japan, and more. </p></div><div class="factoid-item-links"><ul><li class="lw_related_urls"><a href="https://monmouthcollege.edu/offices/global-engagement/" target="_blank">Scots Term</a></li></ul></div></aside>
  • <aside class="factoid-item"><div class="factoid-item-text"><p> We’re no stranger to winning. Last year the Fighting Scots won Midwest Conference championships in Football, Women’s Soccer, Women’s Basketball and Men’s Track and Field. </p></div><div class="factoid-item-links"><ul><li class="lw_related_urls"><a href="https://monmouthscots.com/" target="_blank">Fighting Scots</a></li></ul></div></aside>
  • <aside class="factoid-item"><div class="factoid-item-text"><p> Monmouth College offers unique academic minors in Global Public Health and Global Food Security for students who want to use their education to address global challenges. </p></div><div class="factoid-item-links"><ul><li class="lw_related_page"><a href="/academics/global-public-health/" target="_blank">Global Public Health</a></li><li class="lw_related_page"><a href="/academics/global-food-security/" target="_blank">Global Food Security</a></li></ul></div></aside>
  • <aside class="factoid-item"><div class="factoid-item-text"><p> We offer a certified Peace Corps Preparation program that gives Peace Corps bound graduates a leg up in the application process.</p></div><div class="factoid-item-links"><ul><li class="lw_related_page"><a href="/academics/peace-corps-prep/" target="_blank">Peace Corps Prep</a></li></ul></div></aside>
  • <aside class="factoid-item"><div class="factoid-item-text"><p> Monmouth College has an educational garden and 6.7 acre farm. Students grow and harvest fruits and vegetables to sell at the local farmer’s market. </p></div><div class="factoid-item-links"><ul><li class="lw_related_urls"><a href="https://monmouthcollege.edu/academics/only-at-monmouth/educational-garden-farm/" target="_blank">Garden & Farm</a></li></ul></div></aside>
  • <aside class="factoid-item"><div class="factoid-item-text"><p> Monmouth College is proudly test optional. Applicants may choose whether or to submit SAT or ACT scores for admission and scholarship consideration. </p></div><div class="factoid-item-links"><ul><li class="lw_related_page"><a href="/admission/apply/test-optional/" target="_blank">Test Optional</a></li></ul></div></aside>
  • <aside class="factoid-item"><div class="factoid-item-text"><p><strong>Monmouth College is the birthplace of the women’s fraternity movement. Pi Beta Phi, the first such collegiate women’s organization, was founded at Monmouth in 1867. It was followed three years later by Kappa Kappa Gamma. The two pioneering organizations today boast a total of 275 active chapters nationwide.</strong></p></div><div class="factoid-item-links"><ul><li class="lw_related_page"><a href="/student-life/sororities-fraternities/" target="_blank">Sororities & Fraternities</a></li></ul></div></aside>
  • <aside class="factoid-item"><div class="factoid-item-text"><p> 98% of Monmouth graduates were employed or enrolled in graduate school within six months of graduation.</p></div><div class="factoid-item-links"><ul><li class="lw_related_page"><a href="/wackerle-center/career-services/" target="_blank">Career Preparation</a></li></ul></div></aside>
  • <aside class="factoid-item"><div class="factoid-item-text"><p> 99% of Monmouth students received some type of scholarship or financial assistance.</p></div><div class="factoid-item-links"><ul><li class="lw_related_page"><a href="/offices/student-financial-planning/types-of-aid/scholarships/" target="_blank">Scholarships</a></li></ul></div></aside>
  • <aside class="factoid-item"><div class="factoid-item-text"><p> Monmouth College covers the cost for all current students to get a U.S. passport. Unlock access to over 198 different countries! We’ll even help with the paperwork :)</p></div><div class="factoid-item-links"><ul><li class="lw_related_page"><a href="/academics/study-abroad/" target="_blank">Study Abroad</a></li></ul></div></aside>
  • <aside class="factoid-item"><div class="factoid-item-text"><p> Monmouth College has an active Pipe & Drum Band. Each year on Scholar’s Day in April the bagpipers wake students up at 6:00 a.m. by playing in the residence halls!</p></div><div class="factoid-item-links"><ul><li class="lw_related_page"><a href="/academics/music/pipe-band/" target="_blank">Pipe Band</a></li></ul></div></aside>