Unit 1 - "Two Cultures"

“Two cultures” collided for me when I arrived on the campus of UCLA to pursue a degree in Chemistry/Materials Science and play soccer for the UCLA men’s soccer team.  The “art” of soccer and the science of chemistry created unanticipated challenges.  Due to the demands of college sports, many coaches advise their students to attend classes that are “less demanding” and usually found on North campus.  My South campus Professors provided demanding and rigorous schedules that were unrelenting for students who desired to participate in sports. 

http://silverwing1310.deviantart.com/art/North-vs-South-Campus-UCLA-199654234

 

Buckminsterfullerene c60 “Buckyball’– A spherical fullerene molecule with the chemical formula C₆₀ that looks like a soccer ball 
http://www.rsc.org/Education/EiC/issues/2011June/SymmetryOfBuckminsterfullerene.asp

In regards to building a bridge between my two cultures, I agree with Professor Vesna’s perspective about academia’s ability to provide an ideal environment.  She stated, “Third, and perhaps most important, academia allows artists contact with scholars from many disciplines. In order to function and communicate effectively in this context, one must learn the etiquette and language of various disciplines. The challenge, then, is to do this without losing the intuitive, "wild" aspect of artistic practice, which taps into the silent, the unknown, the mysterious.”(122)  An application of Materials Engineering is in the field of photovoltaics.  “The new World Games stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan is just about completely covered in photovoltaics, to very dramatic effect. The 55,000 seat stadium is designed by Japanese great Toyo Ito, and the panels can supply "one million kilowatts of electricity per year."  The ability to merge sports and science has always drawn my interest, and it is a goal of mine to work within an industry that applies this type of technology. 

http://www.treehugger.com/solar-technology/stadium-in-taiwan-almost-completely-covered-in-solar-panels.html

Stephen Wilson speaks about similarities within the two cultures of “art” and “science”.  He states, “Many researchers (especially those working on basic research) start from interesting places of curiosity, celebration, defiance of accepted wisdom, desire to explore that which does not yet exist, and the desire to create new possibilities and understandings.”  In addition to being a full-time student, I mentor UCLA student athletes.  I want to show my students through my experiences that the pursuit of art and science is possible and can be achieved through persistence and belief.  I completed a 10 year professional soccer career, and I returned to UCLA to get my degree.  I hope the merger of my two cultures will provide opportunities for me in the future and be an example to the students that I mentor.

http://www.physicsofsoccer.com/

http://www.clker.com/clipart-soccerballgrad-2.html

  

-Nelson Akwari

 SOURCES:

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.

Wilson, Stephen D. “Myths and Confusions in Thinking about Art/Science/Technology.” College Art Association Meetings. New York, New York. 2000. Lecture

Alter, Lloyd. “Stadium in Taiwan Almost Completely Covered in Solar Panels”. 13 May 2009. Web.