Week 1: Two Cultures

Two cultures is the separation of art and science, and the failure of scientists and artists understanding one another. On the UCLA campus, the idea of two cultures is very prominent in the layout of campus. There is a north campus and a south campus. The north campus is where the ‘art’ majors and classes are located. The south campus is where the more science and math majors and classes are located. Amongst students, I would say, that there is a competition of what side of campus is better, in aspects like looks and knowledge. There are also specific stereotypes that go along with what campus you belong to (south campus students are nerdy and introverts while north campus are extroverts with lots of creativity). 


North Campus:

“UCLA Sculpture Garden: UCLA, UCLA Campus, Best University.” Pinterest, 17 May 2015, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/493355334157026093/.

South Campus:

“UCLA South Campus Student Center.” LandLAB, 2 June 2016, https://land-lab.com/project/ucla-south-campus-student-center/.

Like said in lecture, there is also this stereotype of either being left-brained or right-brained. If you are left-brained, you are supposed to be more methodical. If you are right-brained, you are said to be more artistic. 

“Left- vs. Right-Brained: Why the Brain Laterality Myth Persists.” Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2019, https://biomedicalodyssey.blogs.hopkinsmedicine.org/2019/05/left-vs-right-brained-why-the-brain-laterality-myth-persists/. Accessed 2022.


When thinking of the two cultures, at first I would only be able to recognize the concept in north versus south campus debate at UCLA, but now that I think of it more, a lot of what people do everyday is separated by science and art, and is rarely conjoined. One that was shocking to see in lecture was when architecture of older buildings at colleges and universities versus newer buildings. For myself, I would not think to think about how newer building are based off of a corporate style and older buildings are based more off of art and churches. With now having this knowledge about two cultures, I think I can now recognize when this ‘split’ happens in everyday things that any other person would look pass, such as the building styles. 



Sources: 

Jung, Justin. “A Campus Divided.” PRIME, https://prime.dailybruin.com/justinnorth&southcampus.

sam.spotswood.5. “Being a UCLA North Campus Girl in a UCLA South Campus World.” College Magazine, 18 Oct. 2018, https://www.collegemagazine.com/ucla-north-vs-south-campus/.

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. At the Univ. Press, 1960.

UC Online, director. TwoCultures part1. 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNI7dF3DIAM. Accessed 2022.

UC Online, director. TwoCultures part2. 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUr4xxZ_0gw. Accessed 2022.


Comments

  1. joshhahnDESMA9April 3, 2022 at 7:53 PM

    I definitely agree with you that there is a clear competition between North and South campus students, and I wish there wasn't because who knows how many great thing we could do together. The stereotype of North campus students being extroverts, I think, can also be shown in the North campus by having the sculpture garden and many different artworks that the South campus doesn't have, as it's kind of dull from my little exploration.

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