Danielle_DixonDESMA9
WEEK 1: TWO CULTURES
People see the world differently. To Snow, there are literary intellectuals and scientists. These two groups perceive the world very differently. With the differences in how each group perceives the world, Snow also points out that disagreements and misunderstandings also come, mostly with younger people. (Snow 4)
Take UCLA as an example of this. While UCLA is a large campus with many majors, it is split between North campus, humanities, and South campus, stem. From the moment you take your tour during orientation, the divide is very prominent. If you get a tour guide from North campus they not only talk about how pretty North campus is, but they also talk about how South campus is not very pretty and how stem majors are always stressed and crying.
On the flip side, if you get a tour guide from South campus, they will point out North campus majors are ‘never working,’ and have it ‘easier.’ As a fourth-year Political Science major that has taken classes all across campus, I think art of all kinds is what brings students of different majors together. Like Snow and Vesna pointed out, art is the “third culture,” that bridges science and humanities together. (Vesna 122) I agree with Vesna and Snow's definition of the third culture more than other definitions like Brockman's who tries to in a sense cut humanities out altogether. He believes that there is no bridge between scientists and literary intellectuals, more so there is a relationship between scientists and the general public. (Brockman 2011)
Students of all backgrounds academically and culturally will come together when art is involved because it is something that brings most people joy. While in more modern times science and art have become more similar, due to all the technological advances in the world, there are still aspects of art, whether it be a traditional form of art or a newer digital form, that people in humanities can connect with and find joy in.
- Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." The Third Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 1998
- Bohm, D. "On Creativity." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Wed. 04 Oct. 2013.
- Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.
- Wilson, Stephen D. “Myths and Confusions in Thinking about Art/Science/Technology.” College Art Association Meetings. New York, New York, 2000. Print
- Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo. 34 (2001): 121-125. Print.
Hi Danielle. I really enjoyed reading your post largely because you touched on a harsh reality here at UCLA, namely, the North-South Divide. In my three years at UCLA, I've seen this divide firsthand. On reddit, for example, I have seen several posts on our community sub "r/UCLA" wherein both North Campus and South Campus majors are slandered based on the common stereotypes you've mentioned. South campus majors are considered introverted, depressed, and unable to write essays whereas North Campus majors are dismissed as inept, bad at science and having lots of free time. I've personally never been a fan of dispute, and that narrative needs to be carried forward to our two separate campuses in order to bridge this apparent gap. I especially like your solution of using art to bring people together; despite being a STEM major, I really like music and certain Broadway performances so I'm sure using these art forms can actually help resolve the innate conflict between our two campuses. That being said, I'm curious; do you think there are any ways in which STEM can also be implemented to bring us all together? Of course, recent times with COVID and remote learning have made interaction much more difficult, but it seems that the worst of the pandemic is over. This makes it more important now than ever to bridge this gap as we return to our normal operations.
ReplyDelete