1: Two Cultures

Basically my life. My father also
wears glasses.
memegenerator.net

For most of my life before college, I was not aware of the two cultures of the arts and the sciences as introduced by C.P. Snow.  The main reason I was not aware of these two cultures was that growing up, I was only exposed to one culture.  I basically did not even know that the arts were important to society.  I was raised on the idea that I had to study something in the STEM field so I could have a "good career" (hopefully as a doctor, lawyer, or engineer) and that pursuing any type of artistic career would leave me in shambles.  Fortunately for me, I had little to no interest in art, so I didn't feel like I was being denied a part of life.

Boelter Hall, which is currently
my home on campus.
http://getacollegelife.tumblr.com/

Upon entering college as a chemical engineering major, I got a little more exposure to the existence of another culture.  Half of our campus is devoted to the humanities, and the fact that the campus is divided into north and sound visually reveals that there is a clear divide between our "cultures" and interests.  Also, there are definitely stereotypes that exist between north and south campus majors.  For example, south campus majors are usually under the impression that north campus majors do very little work and just hang out all the time.  Although these stereotypes are sometimes untrue, it just goes to show the lack of understanding between our two cultures.

Victimless Leather--A Prototype of 

Stitch-less Jacket grown in a Technoscientific 

"Body," created by Tissue Culture & Art Project

http://www.artnews.com/2013/03/18/biotechnology-as-art-form/

Reading Wilson's article about artists using technology in their art introduced me to a relationship between art and science that I had never ever been aware of before, showing me a bridge between the two cultures.  However, Kelly explains in "The Third Culture" that this technology has become integral in a sort of "nerd culture," which is dependent on the sciences in arguably a much more significant way than the arts.  This applies to my life because I am interested in studying semiconductor manufacturing, and semiconductors are essential to most common technologies, like computers and smartphones.  I see myself in the future working on the science that the third culture often takes for granted, but relies on.

Sources:

Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." Science 279.5353 (n.d.): 992-93. Science. AAAS. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.

Miranda, Carolina. "Weird Science: Biotechnology as Art Form." ARTnews. ARTnewsltd, 18 Mar. 2013. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

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

Wilson, Stephen D. “Myths and Confusions in Thinking about Art/Science/Technology.” College Art Association Meetings. New York, New York, 2000. Print.