Leonardo da Vinci once said: “To develop a complete mind: Study the science of the art; study the art of the science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”

He gives an answer to a very substantial question: How do we deal with different realities? Liberal Arts and Sciences has taught me that realities don’t exclude but complement each other. While a mathematical equation might tell us what everythings boils down to, a piece of art on the other side extend our vision to the boundaries of imagination and phantasy.

One week ago, UCG once again hosted the Open Day. These Open days give prospective students the opportunity to envision a potential future pathway at UCG. As UCG is a lot more than just an academic building, we made sure to expose visitors to a variety of facettes of UCG life. Whilst having the chance to explore the building and it’s facilities, visitors also had the chance to take part in a vibrant programme, ranging from an information market on exchange, our study association Caerus to a presentation session on the different majors that UCG offers. Finally, our first year students took our visitors on an excursion through Frascati.

Not only did all the people who came to attend the Open Day learn a lot, also I eventually came out even more convinced that I will never regret having chosen Liberal Arts and Sciences. Soon, you’ll find out why !

Our most important job throughout the Open Day was to feed prospective students the information they need to make a decision. In collaboration with professors, second and third year students (including me) gave brief presentations about all three majors. Interestingly, every one of us took a completely different approach, praising different aspects of our education.

One of my fellow students Deborah took her audience back to a course that obviously had a lasting impact: How Art shapes the World. I guess, it is now out of question that Deborah is a humanities student  With a lot of enthusiasm, she established how supplementing a formal lecture with a rather informal discussion among only seven students in the professor’s office belongs to the very unique features of UCG. Deborah remembered how meeting local artists in their studio and attending a theatre with her teacher will definitely stick with her throughout her academic career.

Jona, who was representative for the Science Major, definitely impressed with the positive energy and passion she brought forward.

As the field of science derives truth from experiments, her most important message was that Liberal Arts and Sciences is not about memorizing but about testing the theories you learn, experience trial and error and then finding the best suitable solution or in other words “Nail it before you test it”.  As many other UCG students, Jona did not only want to commit to becoming a scientist. In her talk, she relates to her experience of taking some sidesteps into the field of business and philosophy, whilst encouraging her young audience that uncertainty can be empowering.

Wander and my job was to persuade our audience that Social Sciences was the path to follow. So Speaking, we offered a very unique and holistic narrative of the major. Wander in fact took the crowd on a spaceship guiding them through the evolution of the social brain and the way human communities were organized, starting from hunter gatherer societies, to agriculture and economics followed by an era of industrialization and globalisation. Eventually, the excursion took us to where we are now: Encountering big developmental challenges. Not surprisingly, this goes along with many question marks: What will shape our societies in the future and what challenges are we facing today? In fact, our generation is facing a lot of uncertainties: From the rising power of Artificial Intelligence to Global warming to decreasing Biodiversity – the responsibility of making our planet livable for future generations before it is to late lies on our shoulders. You might now ask yourself: How is this connected to my Degree? That’s where I come in. The case I want to make, is that partnerships matter: the economist cannot must understand the ecologist and vice versa. Unlimited economic growth collides with the conservation of scarce resources which is why solutions must be found together. Liberal Arts and Sciences gives us exactly this understanding. Contemporary questions go beyond just one field in isolation, whether we want to gain an understanding of how societies are organized, what the founding principles of our governing systems are and how different entities such as the state and the market influence each other. Of course we cannot only explain human motivations and behavior with economic models and incentives but we must understand the human brain and psychology behind behaviour. Nevertheless, what distinguishes the human species from animals, is that we have the ability to engage in complex relationship with others, which is why UCG also approaches the human mind in connection with culture and society.

This block, I am finally doing a course in Development economics, which is a very multidisciplinary terrain and I’ve already experiences several moments where I could formulate conclusions by drawing back on the knowledge I gained from the reservoir of science, arts and social science courses I did last year.

Once again, this day reminded me that what matters most in the end of the day, is being different. It doesn’t surprise me that the environment we study in is incredibly conductive to originality. Even if presentations sometimes intimidate me, I know that without reaching limits and exiting one’s comfort zone, one cannot discover personal strengths and potentials.

We ended the successful Open Day with Pizza, Drinks and a nice get together in Wanders office. After all, all of us are optimistic and are looking forward to getting a lot of new students next year!

Greetings,

Eva