I found this weeks topic of "two cultures" extremely interesting because it was very applicable within my own life. I am currently a senior anthropology major at UCLA, but I began as a biology major. Because of this I have had a unique perspective of both the science and art aspects of UCLA. I agree with Charles Percy Snow's statement that universities organization and curriculum are great contributors to this problem. On the UCLA campus the sciences and arts are very divided; as a biology major I spent all my time attending classes in south campus and now I spend all my time in north campus. This divide goes as far as people making shirt representing their side of campus and the stereotypes that go along with it, for example by representing south campus with laboratory equipment and other "stereotypical" science images.
I aspire to go to nursing school, and feel that the connection between art and science will be beneficial for me in this field because it is a holistic field that encompasses many different skills. There are the medical skills that are necessary to be a nurse as well as the compassionate care aspect of nursing that is more similar to the arts and creativity. Nursing has even been considering to revisit Snow's original idea of "two cultures", and that this field may be a combination of both arts and sciences.
Works Cited:
Brockman, John. "Matchmaking with science and art." Wired. 3 Feb. 2011. Web. 5 April 2015.
Cipriano, Pamela F. "Celebrating the art and science of nursing." American Nurse Today. May 2007. Web. 5 April 2015.
Darbyshire, Philip. "Nursing, art and science: Revisiting the Two Cultures." International Journal of Nursing Practice. Jan. 1998. Web. 5 April 2015.
Snow, C.P. "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution." New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.
Hi Julia!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post about the North Campus vs. South Campus stereotypes here at UCLA. I actually lived with ALL Nursing majors last year and as an English major myself, I was pretty nervous about not being able to "relate" to them and/or share the same UCLA experience with them. Although we had extremely different coursework and despite the fact that our classes were on polar opposite ends of campus, I LOVED living with these "South Campus Majors" because they showed me just how creative and artistic a field like nursing can be. Currently, my old roommates are doing their nursing immersions in the "pediatric units" of various different hospitals throughout Los Angeles and in all honesty, hearing about their work makes me think that their jobs are WAY more creative than my own major! Like you said, nursing requires compassion -- and my old roommates are definitely two of the most compassionate and caring people I've ever met. I think it's really cool that you're interested in going into the same field.