Johan Lehrer and Mark B. Boslough have opposite views on the needs in the scientific field, but share the common idea that science is necessary. In Lehrer essay, “The Future of Science… is Art”, he is arguing for the integration of art and science, but still mentions the importance of science and it’s need to be recognized in our society. Lehrer states: “First of all, the humanities must sincerely engage with the sciences. Henry James defined the writer as someone on whom nothing is lost; artists must heed his call, and not ignore science’s inspiring descriptions of reality.” Lehrer is vouching for the sciences and its importance in our curriculum. He doesn’t want to get rid of it just slightly enhance it. While Boslough in the essay “We must protect U.S. investment in Scientific Knowledge”, discusses the importance of the scientific method and doesn’t see the need to change it. He argues: …” that deep understanding of mature through scientific research is essential, and that our ‘material, social, and intellectual condition’ directly depends on our scientific knowledge.” Boslough states the importance of science in our overall knowledge. No matter what both authors are trying to argue, they both recognize science as an essential topic in our society. Looking at the dates of each article published and the 13 year age gap, shows how the basis of science hasn’t really changed even though it has been questioned. If thats the case will science ever integrate with the arts ? Or is it all just a topic of discussion up in the air?
Month: October 2018
The STEM curriculum has been encouraged in school for quite some time, and many in the field become successful, so why change the curriculum to STEAM now? Yo Yo Ma brought up the idea of trying to involve empathy into the field in order to improve, and reach an equilibrium. Within the essay, Ma states: “…the most proficient way to teach the values of collaboration, flexibility, imagination, and innovation- all the skills sets needed in today’s world- is through the preforming arts. If you have these tools, you can do well in any field from software engineering to the biosciences.” How is this so? When you really think about it the preforming arts and STEM mindsets are very different. You would think about being proficient in a science field you need to take science related courses not an arts course.
- Surrounded Context: The essay is written by Yo Yo Ma and published in 2014. Yo Yo Ma is a successful cellist and songwriter who graduated from Juilliard school and Harvard University. The essay starts with a bio and later leads into a description of the essay. The bio is short and concise telling you everything you need; just enough background information.
- Imposed Context: The essay is important for our class because it is one of the essays part of our second paper. After writing the first one, I feel like I have good grasp on art and its importance in our society. (I’m starting to believe that art is a common theme in this class.)
- Intentional Context: The argument in the essay is the importance of art in science careers. Yo Yo Ma is trying to involve STEAM curriculum instead of just STEM. In the essay, he mentions the two pathways in the brain and if art is added, both pathways could be used to help understand things. In the bio it mentioned that he is more than a musician and it later explains that he is pushing the arts so much because he wants society to function more effectively and improve overall. I found two words in the essay that I didn’t understand, which were: “bandwidth”, “tandem”. Bandwidth is defined as the energy or mental capacity required to deal with a situation. Ma used this saying “we can only survive within a very narrow bandwidth of conditions…” Tandem is defined as having two things arranged one in front of the other. Ma used this when describing the two pathways of the brain and how we can’t use both a once but it still does occur.
original:
The murals had an everlasting effect which once again opened up the communities and brought people together. “It’s great to see that the paintings still has, like, a big impact on their images… there’s people that do dance shows in front of them or clothing designers come out and do their fashion shows there”. These paintings began to draw people into these areas that people would automatically assume are rough and poor. With all the positive attention also helps the residents in the area believe in their community as a better place.
After:
The murals had an everlasting effect, showing how art in this scenario brought the Philadelphia community together. In Urhanh’s views: “It’s great to see that the paintings still has, like, a big impact on their images… there’s people that do dance shows in front of them or clothing designers come out and do their fashion shows there”. These paintings began to draw different kinds of people into these areas. Many of these people previously would’ve never entered the communities because of its reputation , but with the help of art, the community was transformed. All the positive attention also helps the residents in the area believe in their community as a better place.
Original:
…Before the project, people would’ve looked at the favelas and automatically turn away. Favelas are known for being: “unwelcoming, dangerous, ugly places” and Koolhaas and Urhahn felt otherwise. “It’s totally an invitation to think about the people that live there in a different way. I mean we worked with, like, big groups of people that are from the neighborhood, so it’s not just us… but there was a piece written in the newspaper, and they talked about the inhabitants as artists and not as criminals.” This was a major part of the project for not only Koolhaas and Urhahn but also the community. This meant that people’s perspectives were changing around the ideas of the favelas. Not only are outsiders changing but the spread of altruism in a community is also. Since the artists got the whole neighborhood involved and the residents were benefitting from the change while Koolhaas and Urhahn didn’t ask for anything in return.
After:
…Before the project, people would’ve looked at the favelas and automatically turn away because of their reputation of being: “unwelcoming, dangerous, ugly places”. Despite all the comments, Koolhaas and Urhahn felt otherwise: “It’s totally an invitation to think about the people that live there in a different way. I mean we worked with, like, big groups of people that are from the neighborhood, so it’s not just us… but there was a piece written in the newspaper, and they talked about the inhabitants as artists and not as criminals.” This was a major accomplishment for not only Koolhaas and Urhahn but also the community. This meant that people’s perspectives were changing around the ideas of the favelas. Not only are outsiders changing but the spread of altruism in a community is also. Since the artists got the whole neighborhood involved and the residents were benefitting from the change while Koolhaas and Urhahn didn’t ask for anything in return.
Before:
This Effective Altruism movement is against the ideas of Dre Urhahn and Jeroen Koolhaas, who used art to bring a community together. Koolhaas and Urhahn, proved art has a big impact on people’s lives. In turn, art brings people together and changes perspectives. Art can be very powerful when it has good intentions behind it. Not all art is useful, but sometimes it just takes a vision to make a difference.
After:
Koolhaas and Urhahn, proved art has a big impact on people’s lives. In turn, art brings people together and changes perspectives. Although the Effective Altruism members never directly said art isn’t helpful, they never recognized it as a way to help those in need. They mainly believe in money solving the problem, which can be true, but the underlying power of Koolhaas and Urhahn’s work is in some cases worth more than money. Art can be very powerful when it has good intentions behind it. Sometimes it just takes a vision and a little bit of hope to make a difference.
I made changes to my conclusion paragraph as I was told by my peers that I needed to make it longer and more descriptive. I used section W-4b Making Paragraphs Flow to help.
Before:
Altruism has the opportunity to expand throughout a community after its been enlisted. In the case of this TED talk it was abundantly clear. A great example is when Urhahn said: “It’s beauty and it’s attention. If you do a two-year project, you show two year worth of full-time love and dedication to a neighborhood and its people, and it’s something that people take very, very serious. A good example was when we first arrived we put posters everywhere. We flyered and we had people going door to door, asking the merchants to come together for a meeting and it was only three people that came out. And we did the same thing after the project was done, and we needed to change the venue because it couldn’t hold all the people, and everybody came together”. This quote shows the large impact the paintings had on the Philly neighborhood. At first no one was really on board but after the the community members got involved and some helped put it together they saw the change happening and was all for it. This always shows the expand of altruism through the community as it just started with two guys and eventually got almost everyone involved.
After:
Even though the TED talk never mentions altruism, Koolhaas and Urhahn’s work has altruistic characteristics. Altruism has the opportunity to expand throughout a community once its enlisted. A great example is when Urhahn said: “It’s beauty and it’s attention. If you do a two-year project, you show two year worth of full-time love and dedication to a neighborhood and its people, and it’s something that people take very, very serious. A good example was when we first arrived we put posters everywhere. We flyered and we had people going door to door, asking the merchants to come together for a meeting and it was only three people that came out. And we did the same thing after the project was done, and we needed to change the venue because it couldn’t hold all the people, and everybody came together”. This quote shows the larger impact that the painting had on the Philly neighborhood and how their selfless act of kindness transform the whole vibe of the neighborhood. At first, not many people knew what the paintings would do or the reason for them, but after the project they realized the change and its importance.
I made changes to try and show how art isn’t a waste a time and can be helpful. I used section W-4b Strategies for developing the main point.
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