Week 1 | Two Cultures | Maya Srinivasan
Growing up in a South Asian household, my parents always had expectations for my siblings and me to pursue careers in STEM. Whether it be engineering or becoming a doctor, my parents were adamant only respectable careers involved math and science, whereas studying the humanities was sure to leave us with zero prospects. After applying to UCLA as a humanities major (after much pushback from my parents), I began to realize that the most important and sought-after jobs in today's society require a combination of knowledge from humanities courses and science courses. Essentially, I began to learn the importance of connecting the two 'cultures,' which connects to this weeks' topic of two existing academic cultures and the potential emergence of a third.
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| Comic depicting the 'battle' between the Arts and STEM fields |
As noted in CP Snow's work, literary intellectuals and physical scientists have a "distorted image" of one another, believing they do not have any "common ground" (Snow 4). This is definitely apparent within UCLA's campus, as I have heard of many situations where STEM-major students typically downplay or belittle the workload and stress that humanities majors endure. Additionally, many humanities students have preconceived notions about STEM majors, claiming that they are rude and unhelpful at times.
I believe this divisive attitude prohibits the emergence of a 'third culture,' as it only perpetuates harmful stereotypes and is, overall, unproductive. In order for a third culture to come to fruition, it's important that both scientists and those who study humanities learn that each aspect of these fields works with one another despite having major differences.
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Humanities and STEM fields joining together create the diverse society we live in today
This week's materials showcased the importance of members of both fields (STEM and humanities) taking time to understand one another; with a more understanding relationship, it's possible that a third culture can emerge. Victoria Vesna notes that "as long as a work does not have a reason to be located in a few disciplines simultaneously, room for misunderstandings will be ample," which speaks volumes about the communication needed between the two existing academic cultures (Vesna 124).
My future career plans involve the combination of my major-related skills in conjunction with the technical skills I am currently developing. After learning about these different cultures, and the beginnings of a third culture, I am very excited to start my own path and utilize the skills that gained from both my scientific and artistic knowledge.
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| Although they might be vastly different, combining the arts and sciences allows for an influx of creativity |
Birenbaum, Rona. “The Art and Science of Investing: Conversation with a Client.” Caring for Clients, 19 Jan. 2018, https://www.caringforclients.com/2018/01/19/the-art-and-science-of-investing-conversation-with-a-client/.
Booska, Katherine. “For Real Progress, Fund the Humanities.” The Daily Californian, The Daily Californian, 1 Feb. 2021, https://www.dailycal.org/2021/01/29/for-real-progress-fund-the-humanities/.
DeAngelis, Stephen. “Stem vs Arts & Humanities: A False Dichotomy - Enterra Solutions.” Enterra Solutions - Better Decisions, Automatically., 27 May 2021, https://enterrasolutions.com/blog/stem-vs-arts-humanities/.
Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Cambridge University Press, 1959.
Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in between.” vol. 34, no. 2, 2001, pp. 121-125. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1577014?seq=1.
Hi Maya. Great insight! I resonate with your experience of growing up in a household where careers in STEM were encouraged over other careers. For instance, medical careers are often placed on top of other careers. What people tend to look over is the fact that careers in the medical field require skills of communication to provide cultural sensitivity care. This is where humanities and the social sciences come into place by providing that historic theoretical framework in order to learn how to take a patient's culture and experiences into consideration to give high-quality care and to close any barriers that may create disparities between cultural groups that are cared for. As you mentioned, separating the two disciplines would be unproductive and would close any opportunity for experts in both fields to learn from each other to cultivate each other's skills. Division will only push us back from innovations!
ReplyDeleteHey Maya. Your experience entering the world as a humanities enthusiast and going completely opposite of what you have always been told your entire life is something quite bold. It is fortunate and I am glad that you were able to pursue your aspiration in this field. I know many individuals struggle with a similar situation and I can definitely relate to a level. Growing up, my parent never really told me specifically what to pursue but it was always a consist push to a field or career that I will do well in, in the sense that I will make lot of money. They simply told that, being happy is less important than what I wanted out of a career. To their ideas, they assumed more money equals STEM job. So, this ties in with the idea in class that there is this split between both studies. That one "makes more money than the other" when in fact this can be very much not true. Understanding the importance of both culture connecting and potential emerging a third on is something I also realized and appreciated. Like you said, bringing and utilizing skills from both scientific and artistic knowledge will be an exciting pathway as I too hope to accomplish this in my field. It is clear that this world must work with both cultures to fully function and be efficient in solving problems and getting work done. Looking deeply in a situation, you will always find a way to incorporate both cultures and I am hoping for this idea and concept to bring both cultures and people together.
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