An Anatomist and a Poet Walk into a Room&[hellip] Evidence for Professional and Personal Development via Interdisciplinary Innovation
Authors: Duenas Angelique , Beer Nicole , Barker Brian , Royer Danielle 
Published: June 2021

There is a growing trend to incorporate humanities into health sciences education, with a natural entry point being anatomy. Yet, there is a gap in the literature about the potential professional or personal benefits for academic participants in such activities.

The Modern Human Anatomy (MHA) program and the English Department at the University of Colorado recently collaborated on an innovative, interdisciplinary exhibit: “Mapping the Body: Poetry & Anatomical Art”. The public exhibit featured 21 original works of anatomical art created by MHA affiliates (2 faculty, 8 alumni, 11 students). Thirteen works were accompanied by original poetry created by creative writing students, directly inspired by the art. An opening reception with poetry readings provided opportunity for artists, poets, and the public to meet. The exhibit was displayed February – March 2018 and is available online (https://mappingthebodyexhibit.wordpress.com). This study aimed to evaluate the experience of participants in terms of impact on professional and personal development, and explore the motivation to participate for both science and humanities students.

An IRB‐exempt study was designed, and artist and poet participants were recruited to voluntarily complete an online survey comprised of 5 open‐ended, 6 Likert, and 4 demographic items. Responses were analyzed by descriptive statistics and an inductive approach was used to code open‐ended responses for common themes, with a focus on in‐vivo coding.

Six artists (1 faculty, 2 alumni, 3 students; 29% response rate) and 9 poets (69% response rate) completed the survey (45% overall response rate). Respondents were positive about their experience with the exhibit; 83% of artists and 100% of poets agreed strongly that they would recommend participation in similar activities to future students. Both artists and poets commented on the sense of community and camaraderie the exhibit fostered, especially with individuals outside of their own discipline. Regarding motivation to participate, the main artist theme was a creative outlet through which to share the beauty of anatomy, while poets focused on the opportunity to work on a new type of descriptive (ekphrastic) project. Reflections on the benefits of participation also revealed different themes across the two groups: artists focused on the emotional aspect of participation, while poets highlighted professional development as the main benefit. Public speaking and the public display of works were also reported as valued by the poets.

Though small, our evaluative dataset highlights the professional and personal development that can arise from collaborative projects between humanities and anatomy. Moreover, the results suggest that motivation to participate, as well as perceived benefits, may differ between humanities and science cohorts, which are important factors to consider when designing interdisciplinary educational activities.

Support or Funding Information

University of Colorado President's Fund for the Humanities

This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.