Week 1: Two Cultures

Hello, my name is Nicole Nguyen, and this week's topic of "Two Cultures" is something that is very applicable to my life. I was born and raised in California by my mother who is from Vietnam. Growing up, I was used to living between two different cultures, the American culture that I was living in and the Vietnamese culture that I was being taught by. At home I would speak vietnamese to my family and as soon as I stepped away from my house, I was speaking english. This exposure to two cultures in my personal life helped contribute to my interest in learning about other people and where they come from so that I can learn and share experiences.

http://kidsrulechicago.com/books/bilingual/my-first-bilingual-book-animals-english-vietnamese-board-book/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35704713@N00/2632592111/

School is another aspect in my life where the concept of two cultures exists. I can either obtain a Bachelors of Science degree or a Bachelors of Art degree. At UCLA, there is a pretty clear set of courses that divides students working towards a science major compared to students working toward a major geared towards the arts. For example, science majors require certain series that need to be completed and because of this, students pursuing science majors normally see the same people in their classes. Students pursuing art majors have more variations in the courses they take, and may have less redundancy in the people they see in their classes. 

http://www.bachelorsofscience.org/bachelor-of-science-vs-bachelor-of-arts-whats-the-difference

This logo refers to students majoring in the sciences

This logo refers to students majoring in arts and architecture

http://www.arts.ucla.edu

I definitely agree with the perspective of C.P. Snow in that there are two cultures, one being that of the arts and the other of the sciences. However, this perspective has allowed me to further contemplate on whether these two cultures must always be distinct. In other words, I think that there can be gray areas in which a person can be both artistically AND scientifically cultured. I do not think that people are limited to being categorized into simply one of these two cultures, which is something that I was able to discover with Kevin Kelly's article about the third culture. He speaks about how the new culture of technology has allowed the overlap of science and art to be shown. Kelly's perspective that the progress in science is necessary for there to be progress in technology is one that I agree with because technology cannot fix everything and may be very prone to error. Therefore, it is important to remember the two cultures and use it as a foundation to help create and enhance future cultures to come. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-silva/at-ted-active-2011-scienc_b_832677.html

This photo represents how science and art can overlap and create many new cultures.

Citations:

• Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." Science Mag. Science 13, Feb. 1998. Web. 25 June 2013. <http://www.sciencemag.org/content/279/5353/992.full>.
• Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. Cambridge [Eng.: University, 1959. Web.
• Williams, Christopher M. "A Dangerous Divide." The New York Academy of Sciences. Science & the City, 24 July 2009. Web. 25 June 2013. <http://www.nyas.org/Publications/Ebriefings/Detail.aspx?cid=74e271bd-4ba6-47cd-8f0a-add2ef8234cd>.
• "Bachelors of Science." Bachelors of Science RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June 2013.
• YouTube. Uconlineprogram, 30 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 June 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNI7dF3DIAM&feature=player_embedded>.