By Hunter McColl and Ashley Escobar
Staff Reporter and Editor-in-Chief
Amarillo College hosted the “Two Cultures” seminar, created by Dr. Robert Fulton, as part of a series of discussions designed to explore the relationship between the arts and sciences.
On Sept. 26, the topic of music and mathematics as universal languages was discussed. Three guest speakers including Shannon Cornell, Dr. Jim Laughlin and Dr. Bruce Lin were invited to share their thoughts on the connectivity of their respective fields.
“You don’t often see those connections,” Cornell said. “Students are not thinking on a global scale of the beauty of mathematics. We have become compartmentalized.”
As discussed by the panel and what led the discussion, were the five key points connecting math and music. These included abstract concepts, patterns and structures, creativity and problem-solving skills, discipline and accuracy.
“I can’t answer for colleagues around the nation, but I know having the opportunity to work with my colleagues from the music department that I gained so much respect for what they do,” Cornell said. “Just looking at the complexity of the music that they read and write and that they are able to do and the fact that they do so much math. I knew that there was math in music but I didn’t realize the extent of what they had to do.”
Laughlin, who has 35 years of experience as a music professor at AC, said whenever listening or playing music, he hears the numerical patterns all around him and uses them to connect his works.
“When I pick up my saxophone and I improvise on a song then I create melodies,” Laughlin said. “I can play from my heart or I could create something I could use my intellect and start putting together mathematical patterns.”
Laughlin also said that despite the growing split between the fields, at the end of the day, humans were created to create.
“So we’re not looking at just creating professional musicians and rating professional artists, we’re looking at giving these skills to everyone so everyone has the ability to be a creative artist in some aspect to improve their quality of life,” Laughlin said. “Does that improve their quality of life? I guess that is more of a philosophical question that our society should be talking about.”
The guest panel came to the conclusion and said that as a whole, society tends to value math over music likely due to the marketability of the skill, saying that when you major in science, technology or math in college, there are numerous lucrative job opportunities available.
“I also think that the significant difference is that math gets a lot more money,” Lin said.
There will be two more sessions happening on Oct. 24 from 5-7 p.m. and Nov. 21 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Oak Room at the College Union Building on the Washington Street Campus.
Each is set to discuss different disciplines and cultures of studies with guest speakers. All sessions are free and open to the public.
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