Thursday, February 25, 2010

Welcome to Choice Words & Views

Robert Hieger
My name is Robert Hieger, but everybody calls me Bobby.

I am now a student in the CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies. I expect to finish my degree by the end of this year.

Photo by Philip Greenberg
On October 14, 2009, along with 39 other students enrolled in the CUNY BA Program, I was awarded the prestigious Thomas W. Smith Academic Fellowship. This was simultaneously one of the greatest honors I have ever received and one of the most humbling experiences of my life. I was in very good company.

I have named my interdisciplinary area of concentration Integrated Web Applications & Design. The resulting degree will be a Bachelor of Sciences. So what is this fancy-sounding major? Most simply described, this major combines design and programming for the world wide web.

I aim to challenge the traditional limits of specialization and to achieve a high degree of creativity in the aesthetic realm of design and the technical realm of programming, as both are necessary for the creation of truly interactive web sites and applications. In the highly-specialized world of information technology, this versatile combination of skills is rarely found in one person. Such hybrids of skill are indeed a challenge to realize, but not impossible. Integrated Web Applications & Design represents to me the perfect marriage between art and technology.

As a person with lifelong devotion to performing arts (specifically theatre and music), my interdisciplinary choice was dictated by a passion that any work in which I engage requires a high degree of creativity and invention. This creativity complements my work as an actor, director and writer, and at the same time, potentially provides a means of support to continue the artistic work which typically does not pay a living wage.

I now work as a consultant, providing a wide variety of information technology services ranging from system troubleshooting to web site design. I am also an A+ certified technician. My intention, once I graduate, is to move on to graduate studies and pursue a Masters degree. With both my undergraduate and graduate studies, I aim to build my existing consultancy into a more viable and vibrant business specializing in interactive web design.