Week 1: Two Cultures


My name is Yuvraj Gill and I am a psychobiology major who hopes to one day pursue a career in medicine. As a third year I have had my fair share of classes all around campus. So when comparing the two halves of campus I believe you can clearly see the distinction between the artistic and scientific expression that is present in both the north and south sides of campus respectively. The design of North campus feels much more open with large open spaces and greenery that invite greater freedom. Whereas South campus has a much more metropolitan feeling as if everything around you is moving a thousand miles per hour and you are a cog simply helping the machine move. 


A campus divided | PRIME
Figure 1. Tak, Nitya, and Justin Jung. “A Campus Divided.” Prime from the Daily Bruin, 2021, https://prime.dailybruin.com/justinnorth&southcampus.

This polarizing feeling between the two can perpetuate a fundamental misunderstanding or even dislike between them resulting in a lack of cooperation (Snow). Yet, I believe as technology gets even more integrated into all fields of work it can serve as a bridge or common language among the arts and science. As Vesna puts it there seems to be a third culture rising that integrates science, art, and technology that can serve as a “middleman” for all (Vesna, 122). Wilson further delves into this idea of integrating art, science, and technology by saying while there may be wariness in artists in partaking in the “computer revolution” they can still partake “ in the heart of the research process…outside established institutions”(Wilson, 3).


Figure 2. Yesilscience. Fight of Science and Art, 2020,
https://www.yesilscience.com/fight-of-science-and-art/.


I would personally agree with this sentiment. With the growing market for digital art and expression, technology can be “utilized as a specialized common language” between art, science, and engineering (Balint et. al). One example being the use of computational models to create artificial intelligence that can help art historians better understand historical western art (Spratt et al.). Personally, I utilize many forms of media on Youtube that implant artistic expression to explain complicated chemistry or biochemistry topics that I may not be able to understand through lecture format.


Figure 3. Khan Academy. Introduction to Proteins and Amino Acids, 2018, https://www.khanacademy.org/science/high-school-biology/hs-biology-foundations/hs-biological-macromolecules/v/introduction-to-proteins-and-amino-acids.



Work Cited


1.Spratt, E.L., Elgammal, A. (2015). Computational Beauty: Aesthetic Judgment at the Intersection of Art and Science. In: Agapito, L., Bronstein, M., Rother, C. (eds) Computer Vision - ECCV 2014 Workshops. ECCV 2014.


2.Tibor S. Balint a, et al. “Design Space for Space Design: Dialogs through Boundary Objects at the Intersections of Art, Design, Science, and Engineering.” Acta Astronautica, Pergamon, 24 Jan. 2017.

3.Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures ; and, a Second Look: An Expanded Version of 'the Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. Cambridge University Press, 1987.

4.Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo, vol. 34, no. 2, The MIT Press, 2001, pp. 121–25, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1577014.

5.Wilson, Stephen. “Myths and Confusions in Thinking about Art/Science/Technology.” 2000.


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