Week 1: Two Cultures

This week’s exploration into two cultures is a very interesting topic that I have a personal experience with. C.P. Snow first introduced this idea of two cultures in his work “The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution,” and explained the growing divide and tension between the artistic and the scientific worlds. Throughout my life, I have had experience both with the arts as well as with sciences, and have witnessed this tension for myself. For example, I participated in an art class in elementary school that sparked my interest for the arts through the many interactive projects it had. For example, we had to write a report about any artist of our choosing, so I chose to do that report on Vincent Van Gogh, and I immediately became interested in all of his works. 

A portrait of Van Gogh 

However, as I grew older, I began to place more of an emphasis on studying science rather than the arts because of parental influence as well as societal influence, as my parents did not believe that the arts was a successful field of study, which signifies the division that C.P. Snow discusses in his work. 

The balance between the arts and science

Upon attending UCLA as a freshman, my views about the division between the arts and science has been further deepened, which disregards C.P. Snow’s claim about a future “third culture” that will bridge the gap between these two disciplines. In my first year at UCLA, I have taken classes in both north campus (arts/humanities) and south campus (physical sciences), and I have thus seen the tension and hostility between these two cultures, as many south campus majors hardly spend any time working on projects related to arts/humanities, and many north campus majors hardly spend any time working in the field of science. I believe that this is an important issue that needs to be addressed, because moving forward, the arts and science will have to bridge the gap and begin progress towards working together in order to solve the world’s future problems.  

Royce Hall, commonly seen as the dividing point between north and south campus

Sources:
"John Brockman: Matchmaking with science and art." Interview by Duncan Graham-Rowe. Wired UK. N.p., 3 Feb. 2011. Web. 7 Apr. 2019.

Krauss, Lawrence M. “An Update on C. P. Snow's ‘Two Cultures.’” An Update on C. P. Snow's "Two Cultures", Scientific American, 1 Sept. 2009, www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-update-on-cp-snows-two-cultures/.

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 34.2 (2001): 121-125.

Wilson, Stephen. "Myths and Confusions in Thinking about Art/Science/Technology." College Art Association Meetings. 2000, New York City. 7 Apr. 2019. Lecture.