It's official. My college degree means absolutely nothing. Not that it meant that much to begin with.
"Due to financial and personnel considerations, the Dance Program's Interarts and Technology option was terminated at the end of the 2005-06 academic year. Future resources will be redirected to expand and strengthen the dance major program."
While I was in school my classmates and professors debated, theorized, and debated, (and postulated), what our major meant in the first place. I'll go for the literal definition of "between the arts and technology". What it truly meant, was not much. The major was very marginalized in the grand scheme of things, and now isn't even a blip. It was kind of removed three or four times, from a top level major. We had to fight and sign petitions to even get a certificate that said "Interarts and Technology" on it at graduation. Most IATECH majors have dance degrees, and hey for some, it works. For me, I just get odd looks when I say that's my major. "You dance?" And I wonder why I question everything I do with my professional life-- if it isn't blatantly obvious.
I took an interest in it, since it was the only major at the UW with creative audio and recording as part of the major. There were only two classes associated with this, and I learned a lot, but it was mainly in regards to older technology recordings, and odd synth and MIDI diagrams. The other parts of the major were a bizarre mixture of dance, performance art, theatre, computer art (imagine what you think of when you think of really bad 3D computer art), video art, and seminars. Lots of theory and art theory. Honestly, none of it was very up to date.
This is all kind of a perfect metaphor for the way I've been feeling for the past month. Marginalized, undefined, melancholy, and pretty damn confused. Now the question is, did I go through that major just to work a desk job for the remainder of my professional life? I'm certainly not having much fun with it these days-- how to change, how to change? How to network, when the network never existed in the first place? The magic 8-ball says, "Outlook not so clear".
