Photo by: Maddie Kauffmann
Anatomy, many would argue, is one of the trickiest subjects to learn.
It’s hard enough to understand the split-second processes that your body undertakes to keep you alive, and it’s even harder when you can’t visualize any of the crucial organs that carry them out.
It’s a challenge of which associate professor of biology Anya Goldina is well aware. In comes the project “The Anatomy Chronicles.”
Each year, students in Goldina’s Biology 201 and 202 Anatomy and Physiology classes are offered the opportunity to earn extra credit by making a creative piece that explains or highlights a part of the body.
This year’s exhibit includes poems, children’s books and cartoons, among other creations.
So why look at anatomy through a creative lens rather than its typical science-oriented one?
According to the event’s description, it’s a critical oversight to not consider how the topic lends itself to artistic endeavors.
“Human Anatomy and Physiology is part of our lives. It is what allows us to innovate, achieve incredible feats of athleticism and grace, climb mountains, dive oceans, fly into space and create the works shown in this exhibit,” the description said.
It’s a sentiment shared by Goldina’s students.
“Many people try to divide the sciences and the arts, which I think is a mistake,” Sophomore Casey Nathan said of the exhibit. “The integration of the two subjects helps us deepen our understanding of our own bodies while providing a creative outlet for the information learned in the class.”
For Nathan’s own project, she made a drawing of the brain completely out of word art, curving and stretching the letters of each word to represent their meaning and how they contribute to the shape of the brain.
“It helps me conceptualize what the different parts of the brain look like, and I’m finding it helps me remember how it all fits together too, because I remember how I tried to make all of the words sit inside the shape of the brain. I went through like 10 pieces of paper,” she laughed.
The value of The Anatomy Chronicles doesn’t just include the ability to combine science and art.
The exhibit, and its construction, also help students understand the course material on a different level.
“It becomes easier for us to understand, not just because of the time we put into researching and creating the projects, but we get to see the systems through the eyes of our peers who break it down into parts that are easier to understand,” sophomore Michaela Teague said. “It also allows us the opportunity for a grade boost in a way that everyone feels like they’ve really earned,” she continued.
Sophomore Katlyn Harper agreed.
“The most important part of this exhibit has probably honestly been just seeing everyone else’s projects and seeing all new insights because of the way they structured their stories or pictures,” she said.
New insights seem to be the key, especially when dealing with concepts that can sometimes feel monotonous.
“It really helps all of the concepts resonate in a way that feels new and fresh. As an Occupational Therapy major, I took classes in high school in preparation for my classes here at Etown. So when I got into Anatomy this year I kind of felt like a lot of the concepts were things I had already learned,” Harper said. “But this project allowed me to see a lot of things I thought I knew from a new perspective.”
The project isn’t just valuable to Anatomy students, however.
Nathan encourages everyone to come check out the exhibit.
“You don’t need to be a biology, or a chemistry, or an OT major to enjoy the exhibit. Everyone should want to know what’s going on in their body. And it’s fun! It takes an abstract concept and makes it tangible. And isn’t that what learning’s all about?” Nathan said.
The Anatomy Chronicles will be on display in the Winter’s Alcove of the High Library until the end of this month.
