It would make sense that Las Vegas, a flickering hub irradiating the Nevada desert with venues, performances, and seductive soirees, houses an institute dedicated to innovating the lights and sounds of stagecraft. What does not immediately add up is why an “interdisciplinary computation” major would be attending it. At least at first.
The interdisciplinary computation major offered at Colby allows students with computational interests or skills to connect their technical abilities to other academic subjects—and to career opportunites, which have become more and more available in an increasingly digital work force. While such a connection has been made at other colleges in the form of minors, Colby is the first to illuminate its value as an individual major.
Emily Post ’15 enrolled in the prestigious Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas to bring her tech savvy to the world of theater and dance, thanks to a scholarship for its highly competitive summer program.
The fusion of her interest in computers and theater, inspired and cultivated at Colby, continued in Las Vegas as she went from set to set, learning from successful industry professionals—including those from Cirque du Soleil.
Now she aids in the spectacle and storytelling of a production by orchestrating a symphony of color and light, thrilling audiences without ever leaving them in the dark.
Liberal arts are at Colby’s core and meant to give students a wide base of skills from which to develop a career. Colby’s IC major epitomizes this, allowing students like Post to take an academic experience that fosters excellence, innovation, and partnership across disciplines and apply it in the fast-changing world far beyond Mayflower Hill.
