Week 1 - Two Cultures

Walking on UCLA’s campus, I see that the buildings are very differently designed when comparing North and South Campus. Being from New Jersey, this reminded me a lot of when I used to visit New York City growing up. South Campus, where many Stem Majors take their classes, is very modern, seems less open, and very industrial-like. This reminded me a lot of the busy streets of Manhattan when I was first going there because of how busy and hectic it seemed. North Campus, on the contrary, reminded me more of an area like Central Park where it is more open, green, calm, and there is art scattered around which makes the whole place look very beautiful and scenic. 


As a double major in both economics and statistics, I often go to both North and South campus for my classes and can see the differences that exist not only in just how it looks but also in the perception of the students who take classes in these respective areas. There seems to be a rivalry between the two where both sides seem to place a higher value on their respective majors and fields. I think this week what I really gained from the lectures and articles was the idea that education is a holistic thing and not just learning and mastering very particular things. I think what stuck with me the most was the idea that often teachers and educators are often the biggest reason that kids will enjoy or hate a subject growing up and will form their ideas based on this.


To be able to understand people and trends we need expertise in both of the “two cultures” because it’s necessary to explore all the thought processes that could be involved. This is so important for decision-making and predictions about the future so we can know how we educate the future based on what we know currently.

The ideas of C.P. Snow: peace, food, and no more people than the earth can take, are some that I also think about a lot. Personally, I have thought about the wealth gap more than almost any other topic. When I took a class here at UCLA on political theory last year I realized how big of an issue it really is when inequality is growing between the rich and the poor and have seen it just get exponentially worse over the last several years.


This graph to me is showing one of the biggest problems that society is facing today and we do not have a plan to counteract this because of all the obstacles that exist in trying to devise a plan that the population and lawmakers will support. We need the brightest minds in both the arts and sciences to work together if we ever hope to solve this issue before it gets out of control if it has not already. 

Works Cited

Marnewick, Nadia. “10 Things Successful Teachers Do Every Day.” Teacher's Monthly, 2 Aug. 2020, https://www.teachersmonthly.com/10-things-successful-teachers-do-every-day/.

“RSA Animate: Changing Education Paradigms - Youtube.” Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U.

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures. Cambridge University Press, 1993.

“Spring Bloom in Central Park.” Spring Bloom in Central Park : Photo Gallery : New York City Department of Parks & Recreation : NYC Parks, https://www.nycgovparks.org/photo/general/spring_bloom_in_central_park/.

Stewart, Emily. “One Chart That Shows How Much Worse Income Inequality Is in America than Europe.” Vox, Vox, 29 July 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/7/29/17627134/income-inequality-chart.



Comments

  1. Selin BerkApril 2, 2022 at 6:30 PM

    You’re totally right about the role educators play in forming the opinions that their students have towards certain majors or subjects. This quarter I am in an engineering capstone class that happened to be scheduled on one day in a classroom located in Broad, by the sculpture gardens. The first thing this professor mentioned when we came to class during week 1 was how uncomfortable and out of place he felt on this side of campus. He then said that he was glad the rest of the class periods were scheduled to take place in the engineering buildings because he was afraid the north campus majors would rub off badly on us, implying that they were lazy or not serious enough about their studies. Many students laughed or nodded in agreement with this remark, with some even asking why one of the classes had been scheduled here at all. Sitting in the classroom, I swear it is impossible to tell what building you’re even in. I wish I had called the students and the professor out, but the professor moved on pretty quickly after that and no one thought anything more of it.

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