Dance as an Alternative Form of Healing

The DAPpers class is a sanctuary, a place to remember your inherent compassion, a celebration of the vastness of our bodies. My name is Jason Vu. I am a dance artist and facilitator of healing experiences through embodied practices. Simply put, I have dedicated my life to “Dance as an Alternative Form of Healing”, which was a personally developed concentration I had tailored with the department of Health and Human Biology at Brown University. My journey with DAPpers began in 2015, and even after graduating in 2017, my aspirations and creative modalities are still deeply informed and inspired by the practices I’ve witnessed there. As professional dancers, we are often taught the limits of our bodies—that the foot must point, the leg must be high, every turn must be a seamless display of control between the way you position your foot to the way your eyes take you where you need to go. DAPpers don’t succeed in these confines, but they have shown me a freedom I could never fathom. 

I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing DAPpers dance both in class and on stage at the ASaP symposiums. There is nothing like the tangible pleasure and strength that reverberates through the room when you see them move. It has convinced me that the self-realization of freedom, expressed in a body that longs for it, is enough of a performance to move any audience to tears. As an able-bodied, young dancer, I made this film with Isabel Chin to encapsulate those moments of breaking free. Why does sitting in a chair—or having your body confined in any particular way, have to be reason for paralysis? Why can’t those limitations be the very reason you desire to be in your body? Imagination is a funny thing. Really, it can happen anywhere because it begins small. It breathes and grows and before you know it, it has picked up and put together pieces of you that you had forgotten, even from years long ago. I’m young. I can only imagine what comes up for DAPpers. Movement is healing because it is an extension of our bodies in connection to imagination. And imagination needs to start at a beginning. DAPpers is that beginning, for me and for anyone else that opens their heart to it.

I’m now pursuing an MFA in Choreography, wanting to share these types of profound healing experiences I have had with the DAPpers. The freedom I see in them is the very essence I seek in my choreography and the classes I teach. Dance was never about upholding standards of beauty—after all, those are all linked to ideas of racism, queerphobia, and ableism. What the ASaP team and DAPpers know that many others seem to have forgotten, is that dance is that vehicle to choreograph futures of embodied resilience, love, and liberation. 

ASaP: Pandemic Edition

Nidhi Bhaskar | ASAP Fall 2020 Cohort

All eyes on the main green are on us as Liyaan and I mirror Rachel’s introductory dance exercise for the class onscreen. As we take our seats- settling down from the water, earth, and fire positions- to meet our visiting speaker and begin our weekly presentation, I think to myself once again that this is certainly not the “remote experience” that I expected this semester. In subsequent classes, ASaP found me in a plethora of unconventional situations- from improvising a spontaneous onscreen arm workout that substituted barbells for a 2.6 kilogram edition of Gray’s Anatomy “borrowed” from my my parent’s library back home in St. Louis, to practicing ballet’s first position online, strategically maneuvering around the furniture in my university apartment’s bedroom. In a sea of lecture-based online classes, taking an experiential and community-based learning course online has been anything but ordinary.

Through the many years that Artists and Scientists as Partners has been taught at Brown, 2020 has been the first that the experience has been entirely remote. Past alumni have reflected on the insightful experiences that sitting in on one of David Leventhal’s classes or experiencing a collaborative ballet lesson in class have provided them. In my experience, while having class online was difficult, I was struck by both the power that technology holds to connect us from thousands of miles apart, and the creativity that many of the course leaders employed to find ways to continue their activities and engage their participants. Perhaps the most powerful observations were experiencing the power of artistic expression to foster creativity and provide solace and partnerships in the unprecedented times we live in.

Although our class participated virtually, the community-based element of the course was both accessible and tangible with almost every class. Interacting with patients with Parkinson’s who took David Leventhal’s DAPpers class and having the opportunity to join and “dance with” virtual DAPpers lessons allowed us to interact and experience the community of individuals who regularly enjoyed this course. Pam Quinn’s advice to “use our homes as our gyms” suddenly gained a whole new dimension of reality as we scrambled to find household objects and fixtures that we could credibly incorporate into our five step exercise routines. Finally, I was incredibly inspired by the presentations of my classmates, each of which significantly extended and applied the course materials to distinctive subject matters and areas of nuanced thinking that extended beyond what we had learned in the readings.  

If our remote experience this summer has taught me anything, it is that great collaboration can’t be forced, but must be built through regular engagement and an openness to look beyond and engage with experiences and viewpoints outside one’s immediate comfort zone.  I feel fortunate to have taken the course along with a wonderful class who were eager to participate and have vulnerable conversations. I am also grateful for our dedicated team of instructors, T.A.s, and guest speakers who have persevered to uphold the course an unforgettable experience that despite the occasional technical glitch and Zoom malfunction, this course has taught me an incredible amount about the power of interdisciplinary learning and ally-ship and has convinced me of the necessity of incorporating the humanities and the arts within scientific learning and practices.

Design thinking in the Arts and Sciences; ASAP's Focus on Human Centered Design

Nidhi Bhaskar | ASAP Fall 2020 Cohort

In exploring the ideas of design thinking, I noticed that ASaP employed a radically altered approach from my previous experiences with design thinking and ideation. The practices of innovation and design from the STEM-based approaches that I have usually employed usually require divorcing personal backgrounds and avoiding whimsical, and implausible ideas from the ideation process, in favor of choosing the most practical and rational method to impact a given problem. In contrast, ASaP’s approach created a central focus regarding stories of empathy and overcoming challenges and used our personal experiences to guide problem-solving endeavors within the session.  

From the very first icebreaker, in which our smaller breakout groups shared personal information and goals with one another, the care centered approach that we participated in not only requested but required our identities and extended imaginations to be deeply imbibed within the process. Holding one-on-one interviews in pairs and then using the “results” of this personality deep dive to inform our solutions provided us space to have authentic conversations and share stories of vulnerability that evoked empathy. Furthermore, almost all of the prompts that we were given to brainstorm ideas for our solution required us to think outside the usual constraints. Once we were able to find solutions without considerations of monetary constraints (“Think of a solution that costs at least 1 million dollars), bound by legal precedents (“ Find a solution that will get you arrested”), or limited to the laws of physics (“Create a solution that involves some amount of fantasy or whimsy”), our groups were able to more quickly identify many of the root causes surrounding a problem and scaling back our creative solutions into more coherent and plausible outcomes.  

Applying principles of design and innovation to causes related to care is not a new field. From the pioneering of simple solutions to improve mobility in patients with Parkinson’s disease to the designing of novel hospital imaging devices that are approachable and non-threatening to children, combining design thinking with open-mindedness and the inclusion and leadership of target populations represent a key facet of empathetic design.   

David Leventhal and Pam Quinn: Two Distinct Approaches Towards Dancing for PD

Nidhi Bhaskar | ASAP Fall 2020 Cohort

During our virtual edition of ASaP, we compared and contrasted two virtual lessons for patients with Parkinson’s disease. The first was a DAPpers class led by David Leventhal, virtually featuring a medley of music and instructor-led dance moves. The second was a spatial workshop style session led by Pam Quinn, a professional dancer who had experimented with dance styles after she herself had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Prior to each of these lessons, our class had the opportunity to read about Mr. Leventhal and Ms. Quinn’s perspectives and to have interactive presentations about each of their styles, along with a Q&A session following.  

David Leventhal’s style of dancing more closely resembled a traditional dancing class, but with slightly modified styles to accommodate individual patient needs. Leventhal encouraged everyone in the class to perform at their own ideal level and follow his example as much as they were able to. The music used was a wide range of genres, from cultural to classical to jazz, and, similar to a traditional dance lesson, the movements were choreographed to be performed in time to the music and to allow for small bursts of creativity through the process. Leventhal’s descriptions of building identity among his participants as “dancers” as opposed to “Parkinson’s patients” demonstrated a focus on creating a dedicated community of passionate participants who identified with dance as a self-motivated hobby, existing in an entirely separate strain from health “therapies”. Overall, Leventhal’s dance class seemed therapeutic and relaxing, prioritizing flowing motions and coordination with the music to achieve a holistic experience.

In contrast, Pam Quinn’s workshop felt more rigorous and oriented toward boosting mobility as a primary goal. The narratives that we read before class and Pam’s talk prior to the workshop highlighted how she used the principles of dance that she had garnered through past experiences as a professional dancer to develop movements that boosted mobility and improved the range of motion of patients with Parkinson’s. Pam’s approach was reflected heavily in her workshop, many parts of which were referred to as “three-dimensional problem solving”. Pam’s approach encouraged us to use our surroundings to our avail- a practice that seemed especially relevant to the current state of our world. Through exercises in creativity and the self-guided creation of exercises, our class used common household objects, such as hand towels and tennis balls for light exercise and stretching regimes. Music was introduced in this workshop, but seemed more auxiliary to the movements, serving to supplement timings and rhythms to the repetitions of exercise.

Both David and Pam employed unique styles of dance and exercise that reflected on their identities as dance instructors and professional dancers respectively. The use of volunteers in both of these settings reflected the prioritization of partnerships between individuals with Parkinson’s and those without neurological conditions. Exposure to each of these dancing styles was incredibly helpful to witness firsthand the power of inclusivity in dance spaces and the tremendous variations that may exist between the style and practice of dance that caters to patients with Parkinson’s.

Featured Student- Digital Art Time Lapse by Bree Zhang

"I'll Still be Painting"

Link: https://youtu.be/j-uZWXr3wUQ

I was inspired to make this piece after re-watching Howl’s Moving Castle. This artwork is an oath to myself to always be an artist, whether I’m 19 years old or 91 years old. After all, there’s something beautiful and powerful about art for all ages, not only functioning physiologically to improve neurologic mechanisms such as shape recognition, motion perception, sensory-motor integration, abstraction, and eye-hand coordination, but it also guiding identity formation. It also allows us to express our inner thoughts, our emotions, our feelings and values, from facing our fears and insecurities, to capturing moments of love and happiness, to exploring ourselves and the world around us. The act of creating art is a form of communicating, whether it’s to an audience or the creator him/herself. Even when I grow old and lose my physical capabilities, I hope to retain a youthful mind and a spirit of an artist, just as Sophie did in Howl’s Moving Castle.

ASaP’s Resilience in the Time of COVID-19

We invite you to share your thoughts on any or all of the following questions:

• Was art part of your life before the public health crisis?

• How is art helping you cope during this challenging time?

• Moving forward, how can we stay connected through art?

Please click on the title of this blog post and it will direct you to the page where you can share and comment your thoughts. Stay safe and well.

ASaP Visits University of Nebraska Omaha

Rachel Balaban | ASaP co-founder

It was a fast and furious few days in Omaha, much like the Design Thinking workshop I led in Weber Art Gallery for 75 enthusiastic students in under an hour. That workshop was a good metaphor for my time at University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO).

Students conducting empathy interviews as part of their Design Thinking workshop in Weber Art Gallery

The brainstorming phase

How did I land in Omaha, far from Providence? I met Steve Langan at the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities Conference in Pittsburgh in October. Minutes after we met, he invited me to go to UNO and present on ASaP.

Steve is a force and I’m so happy our paths crossed back in Pittsburgh. He is a catalyst, a people and idea person, and a great asset to UNO. His signature program, Seven Doctors Project was formed at the UNO Medical Center in 2008 and has won him high praise and recognition from the medical humanities world. Seven Doctors Project, in partnership with Kaneko Galleries, provides community outreach and mentoring in a creative writing workshop format. Its mission is to provide ongoing writing workshops and other activities to assist physicians, healthcare workers, staff, patients and community members in the exploration of the creative process through study and practice of creative writing.

Additionally, Steve is the Director of the new Medical Humanities program at UNO, now in its third year and growing rapidly. The Medical Humanities UNO and University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) have joined forces to provide an amazing step forward in health care by offering a Medical Humanities major that will strengthen health care in Nebraska and globally. The collaborative energy around this initiative is palpable, and I had the pleasure of experiencing it firsthand.

Bruce Chase’s neurobiology class

In three days, I presented to a neurobiology class and a medical humanities class with guests from theatre and music; I facilitated a Design Thinking workshop for a theatre class and others within the UNO community including several faculty; I co-led a Community Dance for PD class at the Omaha Academy of Ballet with the wonderful Danielle Laurion; and I met with numerous faculty including Michael Hilt, the dean of the College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media, and David Boocker, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Danielle Laurion and I teaching the Community Dance for PD class at Omaha Academy of Ballet

It was a delight to meet Dr. Dele Davies, the senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean for graduate studies at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Dr. Davies is a driving force behind this program, and during our conversation he showed a keen interest in ASaP’s work with Design Thinking and our focus on community art and health. We even discussed the possibility of a trip to Rwanda to collaborate with the University of Global Health Equity. UGHE, envisioned by Partners In Health, is a university that advances global health delivery by training a new generation of global health equipped in not just building, but sustaining effective and equitable health systems.

Fred and Pamela Buffet Cancer Center

“Healing” in several languages

My last UNO presentation of the week was with Michele Desmarais’ Introduction to Medical Humanities class. She was the founding director of the interdisciplinary Medical Humanities minor at UNO and is on the executive committee of the newly established Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Center for Human Rights. Dr. Desmarais is also co-founder and Director of SPHRS (Spirituality, Public Health, Religious Studies).

Later that evening, I received this email:

The hospital is filled with beautiful photos, sculpture and paintings.

Thank you very much for visiting…! As you know, much of Medical Humanities, especially in the past and even in current publications, is dominated by scientists/physicians who extend themselves into the arts. Having my class, made up primarily of science students, hear from an artist researcher-practitioner broadened their scope and, through your inspiring words, videos and example, legitimized the contributions of the Art side of ArtScience. It is one thing for the students to read about such possibilities. You provided them with a living, breathing, joyful example.  I can’t thank you enough for what you did, and what you do. I too hope there is a way to continue on in relationship.

Mitakuye oyasin

Michele

This speaks to the appreciation I felt throughout my week at UNO, as well as the work yet to be done. It was a blessing to be immersed in such an open, engaged and friendly community with genuine interest in the possibilities at the intersection of art and healing. I came away with a clear sense of the dedication of a large number of faculty members to making the burgeoning Medical Humanities program a success. I was humbled by their interest in the work of ASaP and, in the end, optimistic that this work will continue to grow at UNO.

Thoughts on ASaP and the Importance of Site Placements

Swata Alagar | ‘21, former ASaP student and current TA

So much of pre-med education is focused selfishly on becoming the best students that we can become. There is hardly any attention on focusing on those who are different than us in some way and do NOT have perfectly functioning bodies of college student age. 

There are so few opportunities to speak with people who are older and wiser than us as college students. I don’t think I even spoke to an older person who wasn’t my professor my freshman year, excluding the times I went home for breaks. College is truly not representative of the real world (obviously). Before taking ASaP my sophomore year, I did not realize how fully entrenched in the Brown “bubble” I had become. 

Swata Alagar, center, joining the DAPpers class in Ashamu Dance Studio

The main reason why I will always remember this class and take it with me to medical school is the human interaction part of it. You learn how to talk to someone as a person, rather than mentioning their PD diagnosis at all. This might translate into “professional interviewing” skills in the outpatient setting as a physician, but more importantly it will translate into simply being a better human being. 

Simply going to the DAPpers class as an undergraduate student visitor should not be considered a “volunteer” or “service” necessarily. The DAPpers are the ones who are doing a service for us, by allowing us to participate in their classes and learn from them. They have much more life experience that we can learn from, that would never be covered in any textbook. 

Lastly, human interaction has been shown to be helpful in alleviating anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions. Depression among the elderly is so often ignored, but simply having a community where you are able to speak to others (peers, those younger than you, those with a disability, etc.) is so much more fulfilling than everyone sitting in their dorm room or cubicle or nursing home room all day everyday. 

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF BIOETHICS AND HUMANITIES—Interdisciplinary Dialogues: Voice, Trust, and Advocacy--Pittsburgh, PA October 24-27, 2019

Rachel Balaban | ASaP co-founder

Pittsburgh is the home of the Andy Warhol Museum, the Duquesne Incline, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the famous Primanti Brothers restaurant (and sandwich). Recently, Rachel visited Steel City, but only managed to get to the first two of these landmarks.

The purpose of the visit was to present at the 21st Annual Conference of The American Society For Bioethics and Humanities (Oct 24-27, 2019) along with Dr. Jay Baruch and Dr. Stacey Springs.

Jay and Stacey have been long-time partners of ASaP as well as collaborators on the Rhode Island Arts and Health Network, the subject of the presentation. This network is a collaboration between the Rhode Island Dept. of Health, the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts (RISCA), medical clinicians, public health officers, and over 20 community artists.

Their talk addressed the challenges and benefits of working on an interdisciplinary team whose goal is to create a statewide health plan, the first-of-its-kind, to advance the integration of arts, arts therapies, health and well-being. How to:

1.     Develop a strategy for interdisciplinary discussion that respects the voices of diverse stakeholders.

2.     Anticipate possible obstacles to productive conversations.

3.     Bridge interdisciplinary divides to build consensus on process and outcomes for projects.

The audience posed many engaging questions in the Q&A following their talk. Among those who attended was Dr. Rita Charon, physician, literary scholar and the founder and executive director of the Columbia Narrative Medicine program at Columbia University. Her presence at their talk and her insightful questions were clear evidence of her support for their work and her willingness to push boundaries of medicine to accept the arts for the power they offer.

Rachel also met Steven Langan, Director of Medical Humanities at University of Nebraska Omaha. He is a talented writer as well as a visionary, and she is looking forward to collaborating with the University of Nebraska Omaha in the near future. Stay tuned!

Pamela Quinn visits ASaP

ASaP was delighted to have Pamela Quinn return to Brown to present to our class again. She spoke of her personal and professional experience with Parkinson’s disease. She took us through her time when her symptoms first appeared 25 years ago and described how she approached her own version of therapeutic movement which was informed by both her training in ballet and modern dance. After showing us examples of her choreography and how it was structured to make use of cues, she instructed the students to make their own short dances, each one including an audible, tactile and visual cue. We added music to those who wanted it.  Imaginative and creative solutions came from all the groups as well as lots of smiles and laughter. They were fantastic.

The take away for the students was to encourage them to believe in their own convictions, however versed or new they are to a situation. That was key in Quinn’s own approach to her condition.

2019 ASaP Symposium

On March 16, a spirited group gathered in Studio One at Granoff Center for the Creative Arts on Brown’s campus. It was “The Power of Partnerships on College Hill and Beyond,” ASaP’s 7th symposium, and the day was spent celebrating the partnerships and the people who make our work possible at the intersection of art and science. 

Those gathered represented Dance for All People (DAPpers), Dance with PD (Parkinson’s disease), The Miracle Project (TMP, an inclusive theater-arts programs for people on the autism spectrum), researchers working in the field of arts-based health programming, and students and friends of ASaP. The focus was on the people and programs who are making a difference through collaboration and community work.

The community Dance for PD class got us moving as dozens of dancers of all ages and abilities were led by David Leventhal and Rachel Balaban. Former ASaP student and TA Melanie Ambler provided the dancers with the gift of live cellist accompaniment. 

Following the class, we had a lecture demonstration highlighting Donald McKayle’s Rainbow Etude performed by DAPpers, Central Falls High School and Brown Extension dancers and professional dancers from Dancing Legacy. A special treat was watching the DAPpers and Central Falls High School dancers perform original pieces illustrating their interpretation of the Rainbow etude themes of oppression and freedom.

(To watch Lec/Dem videos, return to the events page.)

A showcase followed in the afternoon, highlighting some of our partnerships. It was a thrill to see The Miracle Project New England (TMP/NE) summer campers have their ASaP Symposium debut. TMP/NE partners with Brown and the RI Philharmonic, which has hosted the week-long camp for the last two years. On this day, several camp participants showed us what they learned last summer and how much they enjoy singing and dancing.

The second part of the showcase was a conversation between Stacey Springs and Melanie Ambler discussing the power of partnerships. Stacey is a researcher in the Center of Evidence Synthesis in Brown’s School of Public Health and Melanie, Brown ‘18.5, concentrated in and is bound for France to study the effects of movement and dementia. Listening to their conversation was a powerful reminder of how important mentorship is for both the student and the advisor. The exchange of energy between both parties is key.

The day ended with a Design Thinking workshop led by Allison Inglesbe, an experienced DT facilitator. With Allison’s guidance, innovative ideas were generated around art and healing, encouraging us to think big, have fun and create solutions without censoring ourselves. 

The result was a wide range of solutions that challenged all to think in new and creative ways. 

The day long symposium once again demonstrated the power of our existing partnerships and the drive to expand our work by creating and developing more partnerships. We’re better together.

Humanities in Medicine Symposium—Jacksonville, Florida November 10-11, 2018

Melanie Ambler | Neuroscience Concentrator | Former ASaP TA

Watch Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amrdbIfafTg&feature=youtu.be

            Over the weekend of November 10th and 11th, I had the pleasure of joining Rachel in what would be the most inspiring weekend of my life. For two jam-packed days, we existed in a microcosm of artist scientists, of professionals dedicated to the humanities in medicine. We spoke to physicians, art therapists, music therapists, photographers, teachers, students, and left each conversation with ideas and questions. A man asked me, after the first day, how I felt, and I could only respond with one word.

            “Invigorated.”

            We were treated to keynote speeches by some absolutely incredible individuals. Richard Kogan treated us to almost an hour and a half of combined music and lecture. He described the life of George Gershwin, one of the greatest American composers of the 20th century and punctuated each major life event with a signature piece written by Gershwin himself. A psychiatrist and renowned pianist, Dr. Kogan embodies the persona of the conference. He refuses to give up either passion and makes it a goal to learn more about his music through understanding the psychiatric intricacies of his patients. To say this talk was fascinating would be an understatement. He held the audience’s captivation—we laughed, some cried, and we all were transfixed while he played.

            The keynotes were just one component of the day. In between the morning keynotes were the PechaKucha Presentations, or a presentation consisting of 20 slides that automatically change after 20 seconds. The presenter has exactly 6 minutes and 40 seconds. These presentations ranged from introducing Improv classes for doctors, using storytelling for persons with OCD, decreasing mental health stigma through graphic art, and, yours truly, Artists and Scientists as Partners.

            Rachel and I presented a PechaKucha entitled “You CAN Take it With You” in which we introduce ASaP and the wonderful opportunity it provides undergraduates like me to feel confident that they can take their passions with them into their futures. We started off the first 20 seconds with a bit of movement. Seeing the entire conference follow along and move to our beat was a really amazing visual. 200 hands shook in synchrony and I could see smiles forming on a lot of faces. After our presentation, one man came up to Rachel and said our entire presentation was like a dance. This was exactly what we were hoping for.

            Overall, my experience at the conference cemented what I want to do with my life. That’s no small task, but it was accomplished with ease once I met the attendees. It was such a welcoming, inclusive, supporting environment and I look forward to spreading this enthusiasm to others.

We Are All Miracles

By Jane Hong | Science and Society Concentrator | ASaP TA

This summer, I finally got to be a part of The Miracle Project (TMP) in New England. TMP is a musical theater program based in Los Angeles for students on the autism spectrum. 

I had been introduced to the program through ASaP as a freshmen. My passion for the arts and children with special needs immediately latched onto the program’s core principle that “We are All Miracles”. I vicariously followed the program through books, research articles and even seminars with the founder, Elaine Hall. 

As the camp began, I was immensely excited to meet the ten students who had signed up. What kind of miracles would be walking through our doors? But at the same time, I was nervous. Would I be able to connect with these students who all communicated with the world in such different ways? 

On the first day, some campers greeted me with an enthusiastic smile while some didn’t look at my face but said “hi” distantly. While it took some time for me to figure out the best way to greet each camper, the rest of the camp flew by in a literal blur. We danced to new songs across the floor and played theater games while our amazing on-site aide ran around the room creating visual cue cards and handing out pillows to ensure all the campers felt comfortable and safe. 

While I had known a lot about the program itself, I realized I hadn't considered how it would make me feel. I was surprised to see how much energy it took to truly “be in the moment” with the campers and staff at all times. No matter how much I slept or how much coffee I drank, I seemed to be struggling to keep my eyes open on the car ride home. But as a I closed my eyes, I would remember everything that I had experienced by being in the moment. I had witnessed a beautiful piano performance by a camper who had a difficult time conversing with others; a friendship forming between two shy campers; and the connections the campers were making with each other and the staff. This was the beauty of being in the moment. Everything I had done, the campers would always do more for me. They even helped me confirm that I had chosen the right path for my studies and profession: I am the happiest when I am working at the intersection of art and medicine. 

Reflections on Artists and Scientists as Partners

In this short podcast, Zachary Zuckerman and Hannah Seckendorf investigate what makes Artists and Scientists as Partners meaningful for both student and instructor. They interviewed professors Rachel Balaban and Julie Strandberg to learn more about the history of the class, as well as what inspired its creation. After learning about the structure and intention of the course, they spoke with teaching apprentice Natalie Berger to learn more about the experience of the course from a student who had taken both the fall and spring components. Through their voices, this podcast explores the essence of why, now more than ever, it is both crucial and rewarding to unite artists and scientists in a quest to change how we heal in modern culture.