My name is Elise Schroeder and I have personally experienced
the divide between two cultures, as C.P. Snow puts it, the divide between the
literary intellectuals and the scientists. Coming into UCLA I was declared as a pre business economics
major. My mind was set on getting
a degree in business economics, as in high school my strong suit was always
math and science. To my surprise,
after taking multiple courses at the university, I realized I was more
interested in subject matters such as sociology and I began to see that my
interests were changing. It is
funny because, as touched on in this weeks lecture, on campus, switching from a
business economics major to possibly communication studies feels like entering
into a completely different world.
I believe that coming to UCLA has really highlighted the intense
separation that we have created between north and south campus majors. The video “Changing Education Paradigms”
points out that our educational system has been teaching us to separate the two
cultures since we were very young, so the problem stems from a young age and I
am becoming more eye opened to it now as a college student.
Not only have I noticed the divide within the majors and
educational system at UCLA, but I have also noticed it throughout most of my
life in my dream of becoming an interior designer. People would always comment on how it was so “interesting”
that I loved math and science, yet I wanted to be an interior designer. They commented on it as if the two
things were worlds apart.
It is so easy to see all of the different aspects of our
lives where our culture has created the divide between the two cultures of art
and science, however, it is also clear from the lecture this week that there
shouldn’t be a divide at all. In
fact, in “On Creativity,” David Bohm explains how creativity does not only
dwell within the artists and literary intellectual culture, but creativity is
extremely prevalent among the scientists as well. Many common threads connect the two cultures, however our own
culture today teaches us otherwise.
Today we live in a culture that is dependent upon technology, and as
Kevin Kelly points out in his piece “The Third Culture,” he sees that for our
culture, technology is changing our perspective on the world. With my appreciation for math and
science and my simultaneous aspiration to be an interior designer, I hope I can
be one example to help close the gap between the two cultures that exist today.
Bohm, D. "On Creativity." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web.
04 Oct. 2013.
Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." The Third Culture.
N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 1998.
Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.”
Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP,
1961. Print.
Like many other undergraduate students, as we progress in our years here at UCLA, our interests change after taking multiple courses. I agree that our high school education has trained us to take one discipline over the other (yet still allowing room for the other discipline to appear in our lives as hobbies, clubs, extracurriculars, etc.). Perhaps if we changed the curriculum to fit today's needs, a third culture based on technology would bridge the gap between science and humanities. Perhaps more students may be able to discover their true interests sooner if we change the education system so that it reflects the 21st-century and make these technologies available to them.
ReplyDeleteLike many other undergraduate students, as we progress in our years here at UCLA, our interests change after taking multiple courses. I agree that our high school education has trained us to take one discipline over the other (yet still allowing room for the other discipline to appear in our lives as hobbies, clubs, extracurriculars, etc.). Perhaps if we changed the curriculum to fit today's needs, a third culture based on technology would bridge the gap between science and humanities. Perhaps more students may be able to discover their true interests sooner if we change the education system so that it reflects the 21st-century and make these technologies available to them.
ReplyDeleteThe divide between art and science is clearly evident in my aspects of todays society, especially here at UCLA. Our interests are constantly changing as our education becomes more diverse and specialized. I agree that high school curriculums pave a narrow pathway for students to commit to one subject area over the other. With that being said, I believe that a third culture has the power to create new, more moderate discipline. The two cultures should not be viewed as two totally different worlds, because there is definitely space to bridge the gap for a third culture with today's technology.
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