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| This email header illustrates a principle divide on our campus that is representative of the principles of C.P. Snow's two cultures. |
This week’s readings, lectures, and supplemental
materials absolutely took me by surprise with their depth and relevance to my
personal life and scholarly trajectory at UCLA. As a graduating senior
about to begin my Ph.D. in Political Science, I have travelled a long way in my
time on this campus. As an IDS major with a physics and mathematics background,
I have traversed the very divide of the “two cultures” so aptly defined by C.P.
Snow in his celebrated article to which we were introduced this week.
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| This flag most symbolically represents my personal mesh of "Two Cultures" |
I began here at UCLA as a firm believer that science was the only legitimate area of rigorous study, and that - although I was and still am an avid reader and practicing musician) – the arts were inherently inferior to the so-called “hard sciences”. My struggle was no doubt
reinforced in part by the influence of my childhood in Germany, where the
divisions between “die Wissenschaften” and “die Künste” was far more pronounced
than it is even in the US. This stereotype was reinforced on a daily basis at
UCLA by the divide between “North Campus” and “South Campus”, which seemed to
tacitly sponsor the notion that I had to choose a specialization in one of two
very different academic and working cultures. This was a choice that I
struggled with continuously as my passions contended with what I felt was most
societally valuable.
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| One doesn't even need to speak German to understand how segmented and rigid this system is through the above diagram. |
In the context of this class, our readings,
lectures, and supplementary materials challenged the same underlying premises
that I struggled with so bitterly during my tenure as a student. Professor
Vesna’s article discussing a “third culture” triangulating the arts,
humanities, and sciences takes a critically optimistic approach in building of
the predictions of C.P. Snow, and I believe her work in illustrating how a
consortium of dialogue and cooperation amongst a new group operating between
the traditional “lines” of cultures inspires hope for students who – like me –
may seek a new path in a world still bearing the vestiges of centuries of
divide in conceptual cultures.
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| Serving as perhaps the most visible of the participants in the "Third Culture" discussed by both Snow and Vesna are abstract artists working with conceptual visual art that uses scientific principles of space and physics. This piece - Space Drawing I - Man Ray, 2012 - integrates these principles. |
“Changing Paradigms - RSA." Changing Paradigms
- RSA. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.
"German Flag." - The Best Flags. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.
Neustetter, Marcus. "Marcus Neustetter." Marcus
Neustetter. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.
Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific
Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.
"UCLA Fund - And the Winner of the North vs. South
Campus Challenge Is....ALL Bruins!" UCLA Fund - And the Winner of
the North vs. South Campus Challenge Is....ALL Bruins! N.p., n.d. Web.
04 Apr. 2015.
"Wir Sind Bund. - The Education System." Wir
Sind Bund. - The Education System. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2015.
Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in
Between.” Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web
I also really identify with struggling between what you feel passion for versus what is perceived as more societally valuable. Within my family, studying a discipline rooted in science has always been more important and acceptable. Many of my family members did not understand why I bothered majoring in history in the first place, for in their eyes, it was a useless endeavor for me to study something that wouldn't amount to anything in the future. I disagree, and I think that having a solid grasp and curiosity for both the sciences and humanities makes you a much more well-rounded and grounded individual, and really helps broaden your perspective of the world.
ReplyDeleteHi! In reading your post, I realized I could totally relate. Although I grew up with a different cultural background, my parents always preached that the "hard sciences" were the only "practical" fields of study and that anything else was inferior. My dad would tell me not to go to college if I wanted to study the arts. But I took a few anthropology classes and fell in love with the subject. Although I do have a passion for the sciences, I've gained a new respect for the way others think. Like you, I fall in the category of this "third culture". I think that people need to be more open to new ways of thinking and open to learning foreign subjects. Like in Cece's comment, I believe this makes for a more well-rounded person.
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