Hello, my name is Nina Romans. I am a third year student at UCLA in the Design Media Arts program. I have been interested in fine art since a young age. When coming to UCLA I transitioned towards digital design. As of now I am hoping to go into brand design and web design. I was born and raised in Silicon Valley. My interests include traveling, hiking and watching bad TV. I am an absolutely horrible cook so I am trying to improve my cooking skills.
This week's material focused on Charles Snow's idea of two cultures - the separation and division between art and science. His "Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution" highlights that the two groups isolate their knowledge from the other rather than communicating and collaborating - something which would greatly benefit both groups. This division is very present in our lives and societies today.
At UCLA, as Professor Vesna mentioned, the division can be clearly seen through the separation of north and south campus - the humanities vs the sciences. I found it interesting that Professor Vesna highlighted the difference in even the architecture of their buildings - something I had never noticed.
As a DESMA major I rarely venture far from north campus. When visitors ask for directions around south campus I can not help them in the slightest. I think this competition between the two sides of campus is extremely limiting to our education and growth. Snow discusses this and emphasis that we need knowledge that spans both the subjects, not just one. He admits that this is often difficult to find a balance between the two.
Within my design classes there is rarely ever overlap into the sciences while I think much of what we are learning needs support from the sciences. Growing up in Silicon Valley, there is a very evident emphasis put on engineering and working in tech. I remember having parents ask me what I was going to do with my art interest when I grew up and being genuinely confused why I continued art classes. It was always treated as a hobby instead of a potential career.
However I do see a recent bridging between the two cultures especially in regards to technology use in the arts and arts use in the sciences. Similarly, Professor Vesna discusses the emerging third culture of contemporary artists which is bridging the gap between the other two - humanities and the sciences. At UCLA, we can see this third culture in majors like Psychobiology - a very popular major here.
This week's material focused on Charles Snow's idea of two cultures - the separation and division between art and science. His "Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution" highlights that the two groups isolate their knowledge from the other rather than communicating and collaborating - something which would greatly benefit both groups. This division is very present in our lives and societies today.
At UCLA, as Professor Vesna mentioned, the division can be clearly seen through the separation of north and south campus - the humanities vs the sciences. I found it interesting that Professor Vesna highlighted the difference in even the architecture of their buildings - something I had never noticed.
As a DESMA major I rarely venture far from north campus. When visitors ask for directions around south campus I can not help them in the slightest. I think this competition between the two sides of campus is extremely limiting to our education and growth. Snow discusses this and emphasis that we need knowledge that spans both the subjects, not just one. He admits that this is often difficult to find a balance between the two.
Within my design classes there is rarely ever overlap into the sciences while I think much of what we are learning needs support from the sciences. Growing up in Silicon Valley, there is a very evident emphasis put on engineering and working in tech. I remember having parents ask me what I was going to do with my art interest when I grew up and being genuinely confused why I continued art classes. It was always treated as a hobby instead of a potential career.
However I do see a recent bridging between the two cultures especially in regards to technology use in the arts and arts use in the sciences. Similarly, Professor Vesna discusses the emerging third culture of contemporary artists which is bridging the gap between the other two - humanities and the sciences. At UCLA, we can see this third culture in majors like Psychobiology - a very popular major here.
The divide between art and science and emphasis on science is very evident in our public school system. Art programs are often the first to be cut when schools encounter funding issues. This is despite the immense amount of research and evidence that art and music education at a young age have positive impacts on child development.
I am hoping to go in UI UX design and this is a field that needs the incorporation of both cultures to improve usability of products. Google identifies this fields as "the synthesis of design and development" on their job careers page.
Programs like STEAM are attempting to bridge this gap between the two cultures. STEAM is a campaign headed by the RISD design school which aims to encourage young students to look at both science, art and design as career paths.
CITATIONS
Snow, C. P., and Roman Smoluchowski. "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution." Physics Today 14.9 (1961): 62.
"Google Careers." UX Engineer, Design. Google, 9 April 2017.
Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25.
"STEM to STEAM." STEM to STEAM. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2017.
Metla, Valeriya. "School Art Programs: Should They Be Saved?" Law Street (TM). N.p., 25 July 2016. Web. 09 Apr. 2017.
CITATIONS
Snow, C. P., and Roman Smoluchowski. "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution." Physics Today 14.9 (1961): 62.
"Google Careers." UX Engineer, Design. Google, 9 April 2017.
Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25.
"STEM to STEAM." STEM to STEAM. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2017.
Metla, Valeriya. "School Art Programs: Should They Be Saved?" Law Street (TM). N.p., 25 July 2016. Web. 09 Apr. 2017.
Hi Nina,
ReplyDeleteSTEAM is a super interesting concept to me because I constantly am seeing and hearing people comment on efforts to get women to pursue STEM careers which I will admit is a very male dominated field, yet I think this inclusion of arts into the group makes an interesting point. I think this is an excellent example of bridging the gap between the 2 cultures and highlighting the fact that the arts are also a viable career path for young students. Especially with technology and the emergence of the third culture which allows for careers in graphic design (such as the one you are pursuing) and it is interesting because it combines computer coding with artistic design. I look forward to hearing more about your scholarly pursuits!