Housed in the School of Veterinary Medicine is a little-known branch of the Department of Kinesiology with a cutting edge approach to learning human anatomy.
The cadaver lab, which offers classes to undergraduate and graduate kinesiology students, gives students a human dissection experience that will affect the rest of their careers.
“Cadaver labs in undergraduate programs are really rare, especially in the South,” said Wanda Hargroder, assistant professor of kinesiology.
Kinesiology instructor Melissa Thompson said the University is the only institution in the state that offers classes in a cadaver lab to undergraduates.
That class is Kinesiology 3519, Cadaver Prosection. The course offered to graduate students is Kinesiology 4519, Cadaver Dissection. The prerequisite for the courses is Kinesiology 2500, Human Anatomy. Undergraduates may also take the graduate course.
Thompson is the course coordinator for both classes. She said the dissection course is offered during the summer, and students dissect the tissues of whole cadavers.
The prosection course is offered during the fall and spring semesters, and students use the cadavers from the dissection course to identify elements of the body through touch, Thompson said.
“We really emphasize professionalism,” Thompson said. “This cadaver is someone’s