by When applying to a college or talking about one, usually the question, “is it a liberal arts college?” arises. A liberal arts college would have a culture more tuned to the humanities, and a stem college would have a culture more tuned to logistical science and math. C.P Snow covers the idea of liberal arts vs stem in his book Two Cultures by contrasting the stereotypes, different opinions each persona has of each other, and discussing the subcultures within. The cultures each have their own differences and similarities, as well as the subcultures within a branch that have their own differences with each other. Which led me to think about Colby’s cultures and how they contrast each other.
Colby being a liberal arts college has 3 umbrella cultures: humanities, sports, sciences (in order from more prominent to less). These three cultures have many sub cultures and cultures that branch off with slightly specialized traits. For example, at Colby there are the humanities such as civil, social, psychological, philosophical, and poetic courses, ETC. Each one of these courses stems groups of individuals with unique interests and creates subcultures. The philosophy and poetic groups may find interest in using words and their meanings to communicate with others better. The civil and social justice based groups are fueled by people who look at the way others are treated and try to create better systems. All of these small cultures vary a little bit from each other but they still fit into the humanities branch of education.
The stem branch of education follows a very similar pattern. An example could be that at Colby, there are the sciences such as, Calculus, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, ETC. The physics subculture could consist of people who think very analytically and like to be precise with their predictions. The biology subculture could be people who like view processes that happen in nature and how their actions affect the whole. Then the Calculus subculture consists of people who view the patterns that occur in small and large scales with numbers, and how it applies to everyday life. Just like in the humanities branch, the stem branch consists of many distinct cultures that still define it.
Sports is the third umbrella culture at Colby, and just like the other two, it is made up of many many variations. When asked, “do you want to play a sport” one will need to specify the sport. At Colby there is a big ski, hockey, spike ball, frisbee, rock climbing, hiking, swimming, ETC, community and each one has its own culture. The spike ball community is laid back and tight knit, having small games frequently in different locations. The rock climbing community is welcoming and encouraging, challenging people to try new climbs. The ski community is adventurous and also encouraging. Any of the sport cultures will have some unique characteristics based on the sport, but nevertheless constitute the sport culture of Colby. Sports and educational cultures contrast each other the same way science and humanities cultures contrast each other the same way each of the sub cultures contrast each other.