Teaching the Art of Digestion at The Turner Foundation
I love the human body!
I fell in love with all those bones, muscles, and amazing organs when I was studying to be a massage therapist and took intensive anatomy classes. As a “visual learner” I found that the easiest way for me to remember was to study by using the Anatomy Coloring Book. Using a multi-sensory way to learn, not only helped me to ace my classes but it made me realize how important a multi-disciplinary education is for all those people who learn in different ways. This helped me in my museum exhibit panel design and in developing the curriculum. I want people to grok the information or to become one with it. Let me geek out for a moment; grok means to understand profoundly and intuitively or as I say to become one with the information. Just so you know where it comes from and that it is an actual word, here is the definition:
Merriam Webster:
“Grok may be the only English word that derives from Martian. Yes, we do mean the language of the planet Mars. No, we're not getting spacey; we've just ventured into the realm of science fiction. "Grok" was introduced in Robert A. Heinlein's 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land. The book's main character, Valentine Michael Smith, is a Martian-raised human who comes to earth as an adult, bringing with him words from his native tongue and a unique perspective on the strange, strange ways of earthlings. "Grok" was quickly adopted by the youth culture of America and has since peppered the vernacular of those who grok it, from the hippies of the '60s to the computerniks of the '90s.”
Since we are living in these amazing vessels, let’s literally become one with it and love where we reside. In order to do that we need to have more information as to how our bodies work and how specifically our digestive system works and why it is so powerful and amazing. As I always say in my classes, why don’t we start learning about this information when we are in first grade? Is it because people don’t think we are smart enough to learn anatomy and physiology or is it because they don’t want us to know about our bodies so that “they” can control us and make money off of our ignorance? Is this another science fiction book in the making or the truth? I would say, I would like to read a science fiction book like that and yes we are being duped! So in order to rebel against this let’s learn as much as possible about our bodies and do it in a really fun way. I’ve been teaching this class for about 20 years. The beauty of the synchronicity of life is once you put something out into the world it comes back to you. Once I started playing around with teaching little kids what I realized was adults didn’t know anything about their bodies either so you could teach the same class to any age. I have taught this class at the Boys and Girls Club and developed a curriculum around it for the LA Kitchen, where I taught the culinary adult students as well.
After not being able to teach in person I developed a zoom curriculum that incorporates my Art of Digestion class. It’s harder to get the whole interactive feel of my teaching but I do send out illustrations of the organs of the digestive system to color while I am talking to them about what each part does and how they all relate. When I found out that David Rojas was the director of the Turner Foundation Music program I asked him if he would want me to teach a class on digestion. I knew that this was a far cry from a music class but I also knew that David is a very creative person not only a great teacher but a great musician himself and creative people know how to stretch their minds and think of how to do things differently. When I explained how I teach my class he got it. What I did not know was that David had built a beautiful outdoor patio to hold classes during covid. It is bright and sunny yet shaded and with a gorgeous wooden fence but get this, it had an epic screen and audio system and recording deck. I could not only be with the kids but I could have them draw and stencil the organs, show my presentation on the screen and play music. I was so excited. Yes, we were wearing masks but it was a step in the right direction and I think these teenagers got a lot out of the experience. Hopefully, I enticed them to do art since we talked a lot about healing your body means that you have to address the mind and emotions. Being present is the best way to calm the whole person and art enables you to be in the moment. What I have found is that a lot of people are as intimidated by doing art as they are about taking a science class. As people say the teacher always learns the most and I have gotten so much out of teaching this class. This is what they said about their experience.
Dear Ms. Duffy,
On behalf of The Turner Foundation, I want to express our great appreciation for your facilitation of your Art of Digestion class. Our students at the Turner Foundation’s after-school program (The CLC Program) had a wonderful experience creating art while learning about the digestive system, human anatomy, and the benefits of sustainable agriculture…It was amazing to see all of our students so calm and engaged in drawing the digestive tract as you spoke to the class about the importance of physical and mental health and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle through a sustainable diet. I was also fascinated as to how you catered to different student learning preferences by providing a well-balanced multi-sensory course. I could see how the students really enjoyed learning through listening to you speak with music in the background (aural), drawing (movement), having an intentional conversation (oral), and through your PowerPoint presentation (visual). It was truly a magical workshop that facilitated a meaningful learning experience and enabled our youth to develop a greater understanding of who they are and the world around them through art.
With gratitude,
David Rojas
Director of Music Programs, The Turner Foundation
