Hello everyone! My name is Shelly Alonso and I am a third year Cognitive Science major. This week’s materials have really resonated with me because of the reason I have chosen Cognitive Science as my major. I chose Cognitive Science because of the pressure I felt to pursue a STEM major. I have always preferred humanities and this has helped me be stay in between both fields.
C.P Snow’s Essay, “The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution” really stuck out to me the most because of his take on the division between science and humanities. Attending UCLA I have experienced the separation between North and South campus but after reading “The Two Cultures” I have learned that the separation is much deeper in society than on a small campus. C.P Snow navigated both communities as he was a scientist on a journey to write a book. I connected to this because I have made many connections with both STEM and humanity majors and their beliefs about each other are very similar to what he states. C.P snow states that “they have a curious distorted image of each other. Their attitudes are so different that, even on the level of distortion, they can’t find common ground”. This quote by Snow on page 5 really stuck with me because of my experience at UCLA, being that I experience the difference between the two fields make it hard for me to find a place within one group. In my experience STEM majors look down on humanity majors and it's something that has bothered me but now I know where this stems from. In an article called "A campus divided" written by Prime from the Daily Bruin a student states that they overhead someone call North campus majors "stupid". This doesn't shock me as I feel that some STEM majors believe they are better and smarter than North campus majors.
The division between North and South campus is very apparent to me. In my opinion, North campus has a much more welcoming and bright environment due to its structure. It has more plant life surrounding it which I believe represents north campus majors. However, South campus feels more dull since it feels more city-like.
Works Cited
Snow, C. P. “The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” The Rede Lecture. The Rede Lecture, 2022, Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge University.
Jung, Justin. “A Campus Divided.” PRIME, https://prime.dailybruin.com/justinnorth&southcampus.
Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo, vol. 34, no. 2, 2001, pp. 121–125., https://doi.org/10.1162/002409401750184672.
UCLA North Campus. https://www.laaudubon.org/calendar/2022/9/30/ucla-botanical-garden-xh7ed-k9zys-dp8aj-kf24f.
“UCLA Engineering Building.” CO Architects, https://coarchitects.com/projects/science-technology/ucla-engineering-building/.
Rabinky, Maria. “UCLA Campus Map Illustrations.” Rabinky Art, LLC, 7 Aug. 2020, https://rabinkyart.com/illustration/ucla-campus-map-illustrations.
Hi, Shelly! I'm an MIMG major that spends a lot of time with STEM majors, so I spend I definitely agree with a lot of what you're saying! My older sister was a philosophy major in college, and I remember how much people would discredit every humanities major to her. I agree with the other sources you mentioned as well -- the physical architecture of the two campuses at UCLA definitely further the division. My friends and I have talked about how the peaceful atmosphere of North Campus furthers the stereotypes that humanities majors don't have to stress over their classes; whereas South Campus's design adds to the idea that stem majors care about school, and school only. It's not an exciting campus, just as you said, and that's for certain.
ReplyDeleteHi Shelly! I found your take on this week's topics and lectures to be really insightful! Though I am an Economics major and it is considered "STEM" at UCLA, I still feel the divide between North and South Campus majors and can agree that some STEM majors usually look down on those studying humanities. Having taken classes both in North and South campus, I can also attest that the environment is indeed very different and it just emphasizes the division between the two!
ReplyDeleteHey Shelly. Your summary of the lectures and topics from this week definitely interested me. I have had classes on both the North and South of campus, and I can confirm that both campuses have different environments.
ReplyDeleteHi Shelly! I truly can't express how much your expression of comparison resonates to me at UCLA as a Communications major. Not only do I feel the judgement everytime someone asks me what my major is, but I let the condescending voices get to me. I let the opinion of others and how others view me get to me, and for what? I sometimes think about lying and saying I am a different major just so I dont get the responce "oh, cool" again. But why? Why should I be ashamed of majoring in Comm when it's the best major for what I want to have a career in? So I appreciate your wanting for the two communties to be able to coincide with one another and not belittle each other.
ReplyDeleteHi Shelly, I agree with your ideas about south and north campus having completely different feelings to them. To me, it feels like the architecture mirrors the disciplines that they represent. South campus has buildings that feel new and modern that represents the new scientific ideas they produce. On the other hand north campus has more of the old brick which reminds me of the classic arts that are studied in north campus.
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