[Applause]
so hi everyone I’m Julia I’m a junior
here at Northern Academy so a couple
weeks ago I’m lying in bed probably
procrastinating scrolling through
Instagram when I came across this image
it’s a picture of a problem found in a
fist exquisite textbook and the setup to
the problem reads you were kidnapped by
political science majors who are upset
because you told them political science
is not a real science the problems
pretty funny but the more I think about
it the more I realize how accurately it
describes the experience of a student in
education system as it stands stem and
the humanities are kept pretty separate
just like in the problem the political
science majors don’t study a real
science that will be classified under
the humanities and for that reason it
can also be very difficult to obtain a
truly in-depth education in both areas
for example I have a strong interest in
both and this year I wanted to further
my interest in science by taking to
science classes a second year of
chemistry and year of physics but this
came with a trade-off I had to drop
history when I looked back more on my
life I recognized the choice that I
constantly had to make between stem and
humanities even when I was very little I
was labeled a steady kid because of the
early skill that I showed there and as a
result my education tended to prioritize
the subject areas no matter how
self-aware I may be of that now I still
feel deficiencies in certain skill sets
that are typically learned in a more
liberal arts setting and that’s
negatively impacted me as both an
academic and as a general citizen of the
world
so in this TED talk I want to take a
time out from all that it’s both examine
and offer solutions to how we are sorted
into you the stem or the liberal arts
camp how it affects our education and
what it means for our future so I want
to begin first with a look at my
personal experience when I was little as
most kids are I was curious about
everything I was a voracious reader
nobody could ever get my attention when
I was
my friends made a little sign for me
that said in the zone and it meant that
while I was meeting nobody was allowed
to come and talk to me I once walked
straight into a column at an airport and
gave myself a bloody nose because I had
my head buried in a person Jackson book
I also became really interested in
history through my reading I went
through a total ancient Egypt phase
courtesy of these lovely books the Magic
Treehouse series around this time I also
began interesting began Ellis began my
interest in creative writing and not
brentd I was not he printed is generated
by any means but I really loved it and I
was always eager for more but where I
really excelled was in math it wasn’t
long before I had memorized my times
tables and I could add and subtract
fractions pretty easily so at the
encouragement of my parents and my math
teacher two of my peers and I would meet
with my teacher in the mornings before
school to explore a little further we
would learn about Rubik’s cubes and how
to do multiplication carrying numbers
instead of using partial products my
parents even fueled my interest to such
an extent that they gave me extra
workbooks of math word problems to do at
home now I was on here there I know what
you’re all thinking oh my god what a
massive nerd but in my defense this was
also before there was a ton of homework
to do after school so the promise always
just pure enjoyment for me and then of
course my love you saw my love for
science came alongside math naturally
they’re both parts of the same stem
acronym I was set up to be a stem kid
through and through what I think more
basically recognized that as my skill in
stem came through I I saw enough there
was a prior as a priority distinction
made there so my writing my education in
writing in English in history yeah it
obviously still existed but it was just
less important because my promise and
stem sort of meant that I would continue
to study that as I got older I was
always better at math and science I
always found it easier to do a few math
problems than
right a book report and a history
products back then were pretty
disorganized so then fast forward to
high school a little older and I
basically find myself afforded with this
decision option a continue on the stem
paths that have been predetermined for
me load those many years ago
take as many science classes as I
possibly can or option B try to branch
out a little more but maybe not be able
to obtain this deep of an education in
both areas now obviously I’m not going
to pretend in my experience in this is
universal but when I look at the average
curricula on both in high school and in
college across the country I find
similar trends take the city of
Elizabeth for example not too far from
here it’s a huge school district so
there are actually several different
options for high schools for students to
choose from these include a preparatory
school much like North Academy a career
technical school an arts high school and
the science of technology high school so
it’s the same sort of deal you either go
broad but perhaps not that deep or you
really hone in on one area at a more
specialized school but this comes at the
expense of another area further along
the paths in college universities
definitely do make conscious efforts to
help students get into both Jews the
seniors the room I’m sure you’re all
sick of college doctor at this point but
bear with me as I talk about Columbia’s
core curriculum which is defined as the
set of common courses required of all
undergraduates and considered at the
necessary general education for students
irrespective of their choice in major
and many other colleges instead of or
curriculum might have distribution
requirements so instead of taking
prescribed classes you simply have to
take courses in certain areas but then
further along the line college you have
to decide your major and the paths
between stabbing humanities diverge and
it goes to such a point that biases
against one of the other made you can
develop a Stanford for example stem and
liberal arts majors are known as techies
and Buzzy’s makes liberal arts majors
seem soft unable to handle the heart
cutthroat world of technology
this is Silicon Valley Wednesday night
eight seven
sounds like a reality show right it’s a
little bit ridiculous and then there are
tweaks like this one college is crazy
because you can be in the library
working on your 20 plus page biochem lab
report well some girls sitting next to
you cuts up gingerbreadmen for her
education class and complains about not
having that thought do it again this is
a pretty extreme example but the irony
here is that well yes the subject
matters clearly of stem and humanities
might be a little different the skills
that require her actually show engine
disciplinary take my first calculus
class for example in our class I truly
appreciated how much I really needed to
have an in-depth understanding of the
concepts no more could I just memorize
how to get from a problem to a solution
I have to be able to solve problems on
tests that I had never seen before and
so the second that I was required to
actually come up with the unique routes
to the solution I just fell flat on my
face creativity and the ability to
conceptualize these more abstract
theories much like say a literature
major might have to do when analyzing
themes and the text was so critical to
my education in that class and it took
me a little while to adjust to applying
that almost humanity center of skill set
in a math class and then on the flip
side of things stem majors learn how to
connect one piece to another one they
learn paths of logic when they can post
proofs and that’s the same sort of skill
that somebody who studies the humanities
has to do when they analyze and do close
readings of a text it’s also become
increasingly clear how vital in-depth
education in both is for future success
because subjects are so
interdisciplinary it becomes really hard
to find an area of study where someone
who say they lacked a liberal arts skill
set can really accept say for example
you’re really good at pure math but you
haven’t taken English class seriously
your entire life and now the mere
mention of the words to page paper makes
you spontaneously person
well economics might be a little tough
for you to study there of course this
example is doesn’t occur that often but
you get my point
an article in The Washington Post titled
why we still need to study the
humanities in a stem world describes how
essential a humanities education is for
teaching leadership skills and how to
communicate with others because at its
core Humanity studies well humans where
is this rewarding teamwork in the
laboratory and peer review are so
central to the stem world similarly an
article in Forbes magazine also
testifies that quote a liberal arts
education is most effective when it come
to saying STEM fields Joe everything’s
impossible to calm fruits yet to do in
geometry you actually learned really
important organizational skills from
that which you might use Wednesday
compiling information that you’re doing
from research or learning how to
structure an essay those skills are
often obtained in classes like math and
science now I bet I can guess what
you’re all thinking now up Julia this
all bird finding good information but
what should be done about this stem
humanities dichotomy where do we go from
here in short a more integrated
curriculum one that combines elements of
both stem and humanities in certain
classes well we key to giving every
curious young students the ability to
explore a wide array of interests while
also giving them the tools that skillset
to succeed in a world is rapidly moving
as this one entered steam a new
educational concept in fact its employed
in the middle school year although sadly
after I moved on to the high school
according to their website the
philosophy of steam revolves around
science and technology interpreted
through engineering and the arts all
based in mathematical elements I just do
a lotta more exactly so let me break
that down real quick
in short the steam model combines
science and math classes with elements
of the liberal arts so that you can
apply the various skills you might pick
up in these areas all in one classroom
setting it’s pretty remarkable isn’t it
spreading steam model in classrooms at a
young age that would be so influential
to a student’s education I know that I
would have thrived off classes based
around this model when I was in
elementary and middle school and of
course when you get older a
collaboration across disciplines is
what’s going to be key to giving
students this meaningful and so hugely
important education smaller liberal arts
colleges for example might want to work
with more stamp oriented schools to
design more integrated curriculums ones
that students from both schools can
really participate in also it is
possible to yes you can double major in
both a stem subject and humanities
subject but I warn you the requirements
for those major for those majors don’t
really overlap you have to take a ton of
classes we probably wouldn’t have a lot
of room for extracurriculars so if you
do that you are at serious risk of
spending your college career looking
like this and I know mean and I’m a
pretty ambitious person too but I
wouldn’t want to spend my call or
something like that but what about this
option what if the actual majors
themselves were more interdisciplinary
well I’m gonna novel idea right um so
say you have a major that combines
computer science with elements of
bargaining or psychology imaginal
helpful that would be when you’re
designing your software that way
everyone understands the extent of what
the technology can do and can also
predict how humans for the actual users
can react to it and this is where we as
individuals as students can really take
control of our own education some high
schools like Newark Academy allow
students to devise their own
independence any bruises the more
university still lets students create
their own major
that’s suited to them we can take charge
of our education and design needs more
the stem humanities that caught me
defines education from this early on is
elementary school and it’s certainly
defined my education yeah there’s
nothing wrong with pursuing one’s
interests
get that but a gap so profound between
the two subject areas that can only
negatively affect the students
development as both an intellectual and
as a general citizen of the world
integrating the two areas breaking down
that invisible wall between them that’s
what’s going to be key to giving
students the most meaningful education
possible
thank you for listening to my talk and
now it’s time to make a change it’s time
to impart the message that when we are
so young and our minds are so open
education should be widespread and most of all
so hi everyone I’m Julia I’m a junior
here at Northern Academy so a couple
weeks ago I’m lying in bed probably
procrastinating scrolling through
Instagram when I came across this image
it’s a picture of a problem found in a
fist exquisite textbook and the setup to
the problem reads you were kidnapped by
political science majors who are upset
because you told them political science
is not a real science the problems
pretty funny but the more I think about
it the more I realize how accurately it
describes the experience of a student in
education system as it stands stem and
the humanities are kept pretty separate
just like in the problem the political
science majors don’t study a real
science that will be classified under
the humanities and for that reason it
can also be very difficult to obtain a
truly in-depth education in both areas
for example I have a strong interest in
both and this year I wanted to further
my interest in science by taking to
science classes a second year of
chemistry and year of physics but this
came with a trade-off I had to drop
history when I looked back more on my
life I recognized the choice that I
constantly had to make between stem and
humanities even when I was very little I
was labeled a steady kid because of the
early skill that I showed there and as a
result my education tended to prioritize
the subject areas no matter how
self-aware I may be of that now I still
feel deficiencies in certain skill sets
that are typically learned in a more
liberal arts setting and that’s
negatively impacted me as both an
academic and as a general citizen of the
world
so in this TED talk I want to take a
time out from all that it’s both examine
and offer solutions to how we are sorted
into you the stem or the liberal arts
camp how it affects our education and
what it means for our future so I want
to begin first with a look at my
personal experience when I was little as
most kids are I was curious about
everything I was a voracious reader
nobody could ever get my attention when
I was
my friends made a little sign for me
that said in the zone and it meant that
while I was meeting nobody was allowed
to come and talk to me I once walked
straight into a column at an airport and
gave myself a bloody nose because I had
my head buried in a person Jackson book
I also became really interested in
history through my reading I went
through a total ancient Egypt phase
courtesy of these lovely books the Magic
Treehouse series around this time I also
began interesting began Ellis began my
interest in creative writing and not
brentd I was not he printed is generated
by any means but I really loved it and I
was always eager for more but where I
really excelled was in math it wasn’t
long before I had memorized my times
tables and I could add and subtract
fractions pretty easily so at the
encouragement of my parents and my math
teacher two of my peers and I would meet
with my teacher in the mornings before
school to explore a little further we
would learn about Rubik’s cubes and how
to do multiplication carrying numbers
instead of using partial products my
parents even fueled my interest to such
an extent that they gave me extra
workbooks of math word problems to do at
home now I was on here there I know what
you’re all thinking oh my god what a
massive nerd but in my defense this was
also before there was a ton of homework
to do after school so the promise always
just pure enjoyment for me and then of
course my love you saw my love for
science came alongside math naturally
they’re both parts of the same stem
acronym I was set up to be a stem kid
through and through what I think more
basically recognized that as my skill in
stem came through I I saw enough there
was a prior as a priority distinction
made there so my writing my education in
writing in English in history yeah it
obviously still existed but it was just
less important because my promise and
stem sort of meant that I would continue
to study that as I got older I was
always better at math and science I
always found it easier to do a few math
problems than
right a book report and a history
products back then were pretty
disorganized so then fast forward to
high school a little older and I
basically find myself afforded with this
decision option a continue on the stem
paths that have been predetermined for
me load those many years ago
take as many science classes as I
possibly can or option B try to branch
out a little more but maybe not be able
to obtain this deep of an education in
both areas now obviously I’m not going
to pretend in my experience in this is
universal but when I look at the average
curricula on both in high school and in
college across the country I find
similar trends take the city of
Elizabeth for example not too far from
here it’s a huge school district so
there are actually several different
options for high schools for students to
choose from these include a preparatory
school much like North Academy a career
technical school an arts high school and
the science of technology high school so
it’s the same sort of deal you either go
broad but perhaps not that deep or you
really hone in on one area at a more
specialized school but this comes at the
expense of another area further along
the paths in college universities
definitely do make conscious efforts to
help students get into both Jews the
seniors the room I’m sure you’re all
sick of college doctor at this point but
bear with me as I talk about Columbia’s
core curriculum which is defined as the
set of common courses required of all
undergraduates and considered at the
necessary general education for students
irrespective of their choice in major
and many other colleges instead of or
curriculum might have distribution
requirements so instead of taking
prescribed classes you simply have to
take courses in certain areas but then
further along the line college you have
to decide your major and the paths
between stabbing humanities diverge and
it goes to such a point that biases
against one of the other made you can
develop a Stanford for example stem and
liberal arts majors are known as techies
and Buzzy’s makes liberal arts majors
seem soft unable to handle the heart
cutthroat world of technology
this is Silicon Valley Wednesday night
eight seven
sounds like a reality show right it’s a
little bit ridiculous and then there are
tweaks like this one college is crazy
because you can be in the library
working on your 20 plus page biochem lab
report well some girls sitting next to
you cuts up gingerbreadmen for her
education class and complains about not
having that thought do it again this is
a pretty extreme example but the irony
here is that well yes the subject
matters clearly of stem and humanities
might be a little different the skills
that require her actually show engine
disciplinary take my first calculus
class for example in our class I truly
appreciated how much I really needed to
have an in-depth understanding of the
concepts no more could I just memorize
how to get from a problem to a solution
I have to be able to solve problems on
tests that I had never seen before and
so the second that I was required to
actually come up with the unique routes
to the solution I just fell flat on my
face creativity and the ability to
conceptualize these more abstract
theories much like say a literature
major might have to do when analyzing
themes and the text was so critical to
my education in that class and it took
me a little while to adjust to applying
that almost humanity center of skill set
in a math class and then on the flip
side of things stem majors learn how to
connect one piece to another one they
learn paths of logic when they can post
proofs and that’s the same sort of skill
that somebody who studies the humanities
has to do when they analyze and do close
readings of a text it’s also become
increasingly clear how vital in-depth
education in both is for future success
because subjects are so
interdisciplinary it becomes really hard
to find an area of study where someone
who say they lacked a liberal arts skill
set can really accept say for example
you’re really good at pure math but you
haven’t taken English class seriously
your entire life and now the mere
mention of the words to page paper makes
you spontaneously person
well economics might be a little tough
for you to study there of course this
example is doesn’t occur that often but
you get my point
an article in The Washington Post titled
why we still need to study the
humanities in a stem world describes how
essential a humanities education is for
teaching leadership skills and how to
communicate with others because at its
core Humanity studies well humans where
is this rewarding teamwork in the
laboratory and peer review are so
central to the stem world similarly an
article in Forbes magazine also
testifies that quote a liberal arts
education is most effective when it come
to saying STEM fields Joe everything’s
impossible to calm fruits yet to do in
geometry you actually learned really
important organizational skills from
that which you might use Wednesday
compiling information that you’re doing
from research or learning how to
structure an essay those skills are
often obtained in classes like math and
science now I bet I can guess what
you’re all thinking now up Julia this
all bird finding good information but
what should be done about this stem
humanities dichotomy where do we go from
here in short a more integrated
curriculum one that combines elements of
both stem and humanities in certain
classes well we key to giving every
curious young students the ability to
explore a wide array of interests while
also giving them the tools that skillset
to succeed in a world is rapidly moving
as this one entered steam a new
educational concept in fact its employed
in the middle school year although sadly
after I moved on to the high school
according to their website the
philosophy of steam revolves around
science and technology interpreted
through engineering and the arts all
based in mathematical elements I just do
a lotta more exactly so let me break
that down real quick
in short the steam model combines
science and math classes with elements
of the liberal arts so that you can
apply the various skills you might pick
up in these areas all in one classroom
setting it’s pretty remarkable isn’t it
spreading steam model in classrooms at a
young age that would be so influential
to a student’s education I know that I
would have thrived off classes based
around this model when I was in
elementary and middle school and of
course when you get older a
collaboration across disciplines is
what’s going to be key to giving
students this meaningful and so hugely
important education smaller liberal arts
colleges for example might want to work
with more stamp oriented schools to
design more integrated curriculums ones
that students from both schools can
really participate in also it is
possible to yes you can double major in
both a stem subject and humanities
subject but I warn you the requirements
for those major for those majors don’t
really overlap you have to take a ton of
classes we probably wouldn’t have a lot
of room for extracurriculars so if you
do that you are at serious risk of
spending your college career looking
like this and I know mean and I’m a
pretty ambitious person too but I
wouldn’t want to spend my call or
something like that but what about this
option what if the actual majors
themselves were more interdisciplinary
well I’m gonna novel idea right um so
say you have a major that combines
computer science with elements of
bargaining or psychology imaginal
helpful that would be when you’re
designing your software that way
everyone understands the extent of what
the technology can do and can also
predict how humans for the actual users
can react to it and this is where we as
individuals as students can really take
control of our own education some high
schools like Newark Academy allow
students to devise their own
independence any bruises the more
university still lets students create
their own major
that’s suited to them we can take charge
of our education and design needs more
the stem humanities that caught me
defines education from this early on is
elementary school and it’s certainly
defined my education yeah there’s
nothing wrong with pursuing one’s
interests
get that but a gap so profound between
the two subject areas that can only
negatively affect the students
development as both an intellectual and
as a general citizen of the world
integrating the two areas breaking down
that invisible wall between them that’s
what’s going to be key to giving
students the most meaningful education
possible
thank you for listening to my talk and
now it’s time to make a change it’s time
to impart the message that when we are
so young and our minds are so open
education should be widespread and most of all
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