Danny Gerling, associate English professor and Augustana Writing Center director, has spent the majority of his academic career researching sanitation — toilets, composting, clean water, the phrase “human waste” and at the core of sanitation, poop.
Gerling’s research started when he was in graduate school earning a degree in American Studies.
“In American Studies, we try to look for unconventional ways to look at history and try to fill in the gaps where history is missing,” Gerling said. “I noticed that in American history, there’s nothing about the bathroom. That really interested me. That got me on the track of researching poop.”
Gerling has applied his research to the First Year Seminar he’s taught for the last five years. The course, called “Fecal Matters,” allows students to examine feces from varying perspectives.
“With poop, there’s all sorts of different angles you can write about,” Gerling said. “If you’re interested in biology, you can write about digestion. If you’re interested in environmentalism, you can write about the 2.4 billion people in the world who don’t have access to toilets.”
The students present their original research at an education session held each fall for Augustana faculty, staff and administration. The presentations are typically held on Nov. 19, World Toilet Day. Last year, Gerling had the opportunity to celebrate the holiday as a speaker at the World Toilet Organization conference in Brazil. Gerling and his FYS class also celebrate World Toilet Day by participating in the “Big Squat.”
“Everybody squats, and we usually hold up a plunger. It’s just a way to bring awareness to the sanitation crisis in the world,” Gerling said.
The “Fecal Matters” FYS class has a service element, as well. The project differs each year, but previous classes have designed and sold squatty potties — small wooden step stools that help correct the user’s pooping posture — and pins that resemble the poop emoji. The acts of service usually bring in several hundred dollars that is donated to SOIL Haiti, a non-profit focused on expanding composting across the Caribbean island.
Last fall, Gerling collaborated with K.C. Carlson, Augustana archaeologist and anthropology professor, on a composting toilet project. As Carlson prepared to visit the Navajo reservation for a research-based spring break trip, she asked Gerling for compost toilet designs. The campground Carlson was visiting wanted to utilize composting toilets while avoiding exorbitant costs. “My ‘Fecal Matters’ class and I built three compositing toilets and mailed them down to Arizona to meet Dr. Carlson and her class at the reservation,” Gerling said.