Dear Art Majors: Consider this my formal apology. I’m sorry for all the times I may have looked down on you. All the times I may have laughed at a joke about philosophy or English majors. I’m sorry for any moment I believed that I was better than you, only because I chose a path in STEM. As if majoring in art, English, history, or theater requires less dedication or less intelligence than biology, chemistry, technology, or physics.

Dear Art Majors: Consider this a congratulation. A celebration of your conviction and perseverance. I remember when my teacher said: “The only difference between a writer and a park bench, is a park bench can support a family.” Despite my love of writing, I still don’t have the courage to prove her wrong. But you have. Every time someone rolls their eyes, every time someone asks you about getting a “real job”, every time someone recommends having a “backup, just in case” - you refuse to bend. You know what you want to be and you chase it with boundless enthusiasm. We should all follow your example.

Dear Art Majors: Consider this a reassurance. No matter what you may have been told, your major is useful and needed in this wonderfully weird world. How quickly we forget how art has pushed us forward. We forget that during the Great Depression, movie theaters brought joy and hope for a better tomorrow. We forget that artists like DaVinci dissected bodies to improve their work, and revolutionized the field of medicine at the same time. It’s true; the world needs doctors, lawyers, and engineers. But the world also needs people to write hip-hop songs about Alexander Hamilton. We need people to create songs from 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence. There are so many horrible things in this world. We need to know that tomorrow will be better and that a grown man running around in a Batsuit is totally normal.

Dear Art Majors: Consider this my white flag. Trying to divide the arts and the sciences is like trying to divide by zero-no answer you get will ever be right. We gain nothing by pretending that scientists can’t be creative and artists can’t think logically. The truth is we can do far more together than we can separately, and the world needs us both to be its best. So instead of arguing, instead of constant fighting for each other’s funding, let’s try something new. Show me all the math involved in music. I’ll show you how to make adorable stuffed animals that look like microbes. Let’s create comics about the Heart and Brain and calculate how much weight is in Thor’s hammer.

This is my promise to work together. I’ll help make your movies scientifically accurate so that your imagination can fill in the gaps. I’ll design new technologies and computer programs that can help you paint, compose, write, and create. In return, you can inspire us. Give us shows that dare us to reach for the stars, to turn your dream into tomorrow’s reality. Help us understand our past, that our knowledge can be used for good and evil. Remind us that Frankenstein did not create a monster, but became one himself. Help us reach the everyday people when our crazy words cannot.

In recent years, both of our passions have been under siege. The world wants to claim that the arts and humanities are “unnecessary”. Then they tell scientists that their data is falsified and that they only want the truth when it suits their narrative. We will only fall if we continue to fight each other instead of those who want to steal our voices. I believe in a bright future, one full of art and technology and books and new medicines and so many beautiful things.

Dear Art Majors: Thank you.

Sincerely,