HRS177|Spring2018

Week 7: Midterm Presentations(2) and BPA

In spirit of last week, we continued listening to midterm presentations from those who hadn’t had the chance to present their ideas yet. We heard some well put together project ideas ranging from the overconsumption of networking through the medium of social media to the abundant usage of coffee cups indiscriminately. I was very enthusiastic by the attention that was brought to immediately addressable issues which are becoming overwhelmingly present in today’s society.

Week 7: The Ills of Amazon

This past week, I really enjoyed hearing Dr. Ramakrishnan’s talk as well as visiting the MFA students’ art exhibit in Broad. One piece that stood out to me personally highlighted the darker side of the packaging industry in companies like Amazon. As someone who relies on Amazon, I was shocked to find out about the disturbing worker practices Amazon employs.

Week 7: BPA

The presentation by Dr. Siddharth Ramakrishnan this week was a very eye-opening experience personally for me. I had always wanted to get to know about the impact of plastic on our everyday lives, so I will talk about that in my blog this week. 

 

 

Image result for bpa

Source: Life without Plastic

 

 

Week 7: Going Bananas about BPA

This week we were able to finish more midterm presentations, there were a few that truly stood out to me. I would not be able to discuss my opinions on each and every one although they all brought their uniqueness and individuality to the table. I enjoyed Kathryn’s presentation very much and could sense the passion and due diligence she achieved in her work.

Week 7: BPA, artSHOW, and Octopi

Thursday's class was great! There was so much content: class presentations, Siddharth Ramakrishnan’s lecture, and the MFA students exhibit at the Broad Art Center. The class presentations were great! I am so impressed with my fellow classmates, such innovators! The Broad Art Center show was also truly incredible, what an experience. Dr. Ramakrishnan mentioned how at Puget Sound the science and art buildings are all mixed in together it made me wish that was the case for UCLA. In my two years at UCLA, I never knew of the giant art community here unit taking this course.

Animals!

This week, I really enjoyed reading the assigned article Why Look at Animals by John Berger. The article, although written in 1977, is very interesting, informing and current. Berger poses questions about our society’s treatment of animals that are still relevant and important today, almost 40 years later. While reading, I was particularly impressed by how John Berger is able to pinpoint and connect a vast number of cultural changes that have tremendous impact in how we view and interact with animals.

Eastern Medicine and the Body

This week, we were able to listen to guest speaker Siddharth Ramakrishnan discuss his research and the Hox Zodiac dinner. We also got to listen to more midterm projects, which opened my eyes about different industries that I have never had the opportunity to research and think about. I was particularly excited about Aanavi’s presentation because she spoke about Eastern medicine. As a student going into medicine, I think it is important to look at the medical field from all different perspectives.

Zodiacs & Rats

This week in class we had Siddharth Ramakrishnan and Professor Vesna discuss their Hox Zodiac dinner for a bit. It was very interesting to hear about, especially since I really enjoying learning about zodiacs. Their project aims to break down the barrier that exists between humans and animals and instead allow us to see the shared history and great animal diversity that exists (Ramakrishnan & Vesna, 2015).

Some Thoughts on the Migration of Plastics Pieces

Last week we saw a wide variety of interesting and inspiring proposals in the midterm presentation by our classmates. Ideas from different field collide with each other and give us different angle to solve the social problem. We saw the abuse and pollution of microfiber, the poetry created by DNA, the plastic art work, and the data analysis of plastics in ocean. Because I’m a math major student, I was extremely interested in data analysis of plastics pollution, which utilizes the idea of network in math.

 

Week 6: HUMANxENVIRONMENT

This Thursday, the concept of our connectedness and accountability for our environment was a running theme for all the events we attended. We started out in the classroom, where we listened to peers as they presented their midterms to the class. We then moved on to CNSI where we saw Maru Garcia’s “Vivarium” exhibition. Finally, the day ended with a LASER event hosted by the UCLA ArtSci Center. Throughout, I came to the realization of how sustainability and environmentalism is present and in the forefront of people’s minds.

Week 6: Being One with Nature

Last week’s class was very engaging and informative. It was great to have Professor Vesna back, and it was great to listen to the midterm presentations from my classmates. I feel like each classmate who presented synthesized what they had learned throughout the quarter from the different talks and exhibits and advanced his/her knowledge further in a unique way. Although each presentation was great, I enjoyed the presentations on biofilms and microfibers.

Week 6: Midterm Presentations

Last week’s class was a nice change of pace this quarter. The midterm presentations from the individuals who presented were all informative and intriguing in their own right. It would be difficult to talk about all of them here as I do not have enough space to devote the time each one deserves. However, the one that appealed to me the most would be the presentation on converting the poem to a DNA sequence. The poem was very well written and as someone who considers himself an amateur writer, the presentation was extremely memorable.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - HRS177|Spring2018