A news article in the Technician featured a poetry slam event that took place Jan. 21 in Talley Student Union. The article explained that the event was hosted by STEMedia, which is “an initiative that blends creativity with the STEM focus.” STEMedia may be a lesser-known organization on campus, but the potential benefits to a program like this at the university are clear.
The article went on to explain that the event was intended to blend creativity with the principles of STEM majors. While this is a benefit, it is not the main benefit to a program like STEMedia on our campus. It could be argued that STEM majors are not inherently without creativity. Most STEM majors probably involve some type of creativity and provide an avenue for STEM students to channel that creativity. Majors like engineering and textiles not only inherently involve creative thinking, but they also incentivize creative thinking because thinking creatively would have a direct impact on the popularity of your designs. Engineering and textiles are not only inherently creative but they require creativity for success.
The main benefit of an initiative like STEMedia is that it provides an opportunity for STEM majors and other majors (especially CHASS students) to come together for an event. The poetry slam is such a good idea because it has attributes that would appeal to both CHASS and STEM majors. This type of activity will inevitably help bridge the divide between the two distinctive groups of students on campus. As a CHASS student myself, I can definitely say from experience there seems to be a divide between these two student groups.
Both groups have various assumptions about the other group. CHASS students think that engineers are all socially awkward people and engineers think that CHASS students are all lazy and have a very easy time at college. These types of assumptions are very divisive and are not helpful for the university. Both groups are guilty of making these kinds of assumptions, and part of this is just college pride and/or a sense of teams or healthy competition, but the majority of these kinds of comments come from a lack of understanding about majors different from your own and those who study them.
When we have more events and opportunities like this, the more it encourages CHASS majors and STEM majors to actually interact with each other, which is a great thing. STEMedia is not alone either; there are lots of opportunities for different types of majors to interact with each other. Even working in Student Media gives STEM and CHASS majors an opportunity to interact with each other and trade notes. Some of my fellow students who work for the Technician are STEM majors that wouldn’t normally interact with students of CHASS or other colleges on a daily basis. Seeking out opportunities like this poetry slam is a rewarding opportunity for any student at NC State. We have a lot of things we can learn from each other.
