Week1- Two Cultures

I was born into a “Two Cultures” world. Most of the high school students in China have to choose between liberal arts and science, as their main focuses. Throughout my entire high school education, I learned a lot of natural sciences, but liberal arts were usually not in my class schedules. I remembered once in my Chinese class, our teacher reminded us that only knowing about scientific theories does not make us good citizens to the society. That was the moment when I realized that the education system, running over decades, had some problems.

 

Students feel difficult in choosing one of the two cultures

My doubts and realizations do not fade away when I come to the U.S., the culture melting pot, and study. I pick Applied Mathematics as my major and delve into natural science world once more. However, “Two Cultures” is surrounding my life. I take some liberal arts courses for GE requirements, like Desma9. What C.P. Snow described in “The Two Cultures and The Scientific Revolution” in 1959 makes me more confident of what I have always doubted is worth doubting. I walk from the South campus to the North campus, bypassing “two cultures” in just minutes. They are entirely different worlds with distinct styles of architectures. I wonder how these buildings and sculptures make a difference in college students’ understandings of the two cultures. “Are they separate?” and “Do I even need to care about things happening in the other side of the campus?”  

UCLA North campus Sculpture Garden

UCLA South campus Engineering School

I got my first job at Startup UCLA, working closely with some college entrepreneurs. One of the startups, called Enrou, showed me the amazing power that “the Third Culture”, described in Victoria Vesna’s article “Toward a Third Culture: Being in between” could create. Enrou is an e-commerce startup whose goal is to reduce global poverty. They utilize IT technology to connect customers with social causes with artists and ordinary people in underdeveloped countries. Through Enrou, people can buy artifacts and clothes, created by those hands in need. Combining the two cultures, Enrou is en route to making a better world.

Enrou, an e-commerce startup
enrou.co

I am truly grateful that this week readings give me more insights into how I can better understand how art and science can work together. In the future, I will try not to only focus on science and technology but also explore as broad as possible.

Sources:

Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo. 34 (2001): 121-125. Print.

Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." The Third Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 1998

Bohm, D. "On Creativity." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2013.

Snow, C.P. The Two Cultures: And a Second Look. N.p.: n.p., 1963. Print.