Day 10:
Discussion Session
Visit with Rutgers Faculty Lisa Klein
Visit with Rutgers student STEAM group
We started out the morning by discussing their journal entry "Out of all of your experiences in NYC this past week, what made the biggest impact on you, and why?" The responses varied across the syllabus, but their choices included reasons such as:
- the boundless pursuit of ideas and risk taking to create successful careers
- research for the sake of research within the larger context of medical science
- cross-disciplinary career paths enabling unique opportunities and presenting unique challenges
- the potential for real world change at the ground level in the Do-It-Yourself community
- the ability of art to relay science and medicine in a thoughtful, bodily manner
- the passion it takes to pursue an artistic or scientific career
We then discussed the last reading "Art and Science as Creative Catalysts," a paper originally published in Leonardo on the process and unexpected benefits of science-art-tech collaboration. Rather than focusing on output, our discussion highlighted the paper's strong points about productive off-shoots a collaboration can have, even if the collaboration's own end product never comes to fruition. Additionally, the idea of "n cultures" was raised as a replacement of the "two cultures," "third culture," and "fourth culture" models that were presented in readings throughout the course. "n cultures" allows for the deeper discussion of the need for better communication not only between art and science but within each vast and multi-specialized discipline itself.
- the boundless pursuit of ideas and risk taking to create successful careers
- research for the sake of research within the larger context of medical science
- cross-disciplinary career paths enabling unique opportunities and presenting unique challenges
- the potential for real world change at the ground level in the Do-It-Yourself community
- the ability of art to relay science and medicine in a thoughtful, bodily manner
- the passion it takes to pursue an artistic or scientific career
We then discussed the last reading "Art and Science as Creative Catalysts," a paper originally published in Leonardo on the process and unexpected benefits of science-art-tech collaboration. Rather than focusing on output, our discussion highlighted the paper's strong points about productive off-shoots a collaboration can have, even if the collaboration's own end product never comes to fruition. Additionally, the idea of "n cultures" was raised as a replacement of the "two cultures," "third culture," and "fourth culture" models that were presented in readings throughout the course. "n cultures" allows for the deeper discussion of the need for better communication not only between art and science but within each vast and multi-specialized discipline itself.
Visit with Materials Science & Engineering Rutgers faculty Lisa Klein:
In the afternoon Rutgers faculty Lisa Klein came to visit our class to discuss her research. Lisa has been part of the Materials Science & Engineering department at Rutgers for over 40 years. She shared with us a bit about her career path and research into creating glass at room temperature and scratch-resistant plexiglass, and showed us some fascinating material samples.
In the afternoon Rutgers faculty Lisa Klein came to visit our class to discuss her research. Lisa has been part of the Materials Science & Engineering department at Rutgers for over 40 years. She shared with us a bit about her career path and research into creating glass at room temperature and scratch-resistant plexiglass, and showed us some fascinating material samples.
Visit with Rutgers student STEAM group:
We ended the day with a visit from the Rutgers student STEAM group. Founded last academic year, this group is part of a network of school groups (started by RISD and Brown) that host regular STEAM activities open to all students. Danica Sapit, the current Rutgers steam group president, spoke with us about her academic career, the STEAM group's activities, and ways to engage in STEAM following the conclusion of this course.
We ended the day with a visit from the Rutgers student STEAM group. Founded last academic year, this group is part of a network of school groups (started by RISD and Brown) that host regular STEAM activities open to all students. Danica Sapit, the current Rutgers steam group president, spoke with us about her academic career, the STEAM group's activities, and ways to engage in STEAM following the conclusion of this course.
