Records of the Alternative Media Center and Interactive Telecommunications Program, Tisch School of the Arts

Call Number

RG.35.2

Date

1973-2018, ongoing, inclusive

Creator

New York University. Interactive Telecommunications Program

Extent

20 Linear Feet

(19 Paige boxes)

Extent

4 websites

in 4 archived websites.

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

The Alternative Media Center and Interactive Telecommunications Program were established within Tisch School of the Arts in 1971. This collection contains the administrative records of the Alternative Media Collection, archived websites of their journal ADJACENT, photographs and slides of AMC related events, and thesis projects completed by students in the Interactive Telecommunications Program. The formats of the thesis projects include paper, VHS, CD, DVD, U-Matic, Floppy Disc, Zip Discs, and Hi 8 Tapes.

History of the Alternative Media Center and Interactive Telecommunications Program

The Alternative Media Center was established within the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 1971 by professors George C. Stoney and Red Burns. After co-teaching a video production course focused on the use of video in a community-based context, Stoney and Burns co-founded the AMC and began their work training citizens in the tools of video production for what would eventually become Public-Access television. Both Stoney and Burns were documentary filmmakers and Stoney is referred to as the "father of public-access television."

The early 1970s saw significant developments in technology and media, including the then-new tool of portable video made possible by the creation of Sony's "Portapak" and Apple II computers. The AMC was created with a focus on exploring this new technology and to serve as a pioneering center for application development and field trials. Through the AMC, Stoney, Burns, and their colleagues worked to make significant developments in their fields of documentary film and traditional media. This included lobbying Congress for the creation of what is now public access cable television and significant field trials for two-way television in community settings, the use of Teletext in major urban centers and communications technologies for the developmentally disabled.

Professor Burns believed a graduate course of study was needed for new media developers, and in 1979 the Interactive Telecommunications Program developed as a graduate department focused on the study and design of new media and social applications. In 1983 Professor Burns was appointed Chair of the ITP department and maintained the position until 2010.

Arrangement

This collection is separated into five series each of which is arranged alphabetically, chronologically, or in accordance with its original order.

Series I: Administrative Records of the Alternative Media Center is arranged alphabetically

Series II: Alternative Media Center Publications and Papers is arranged according to its original order

Series III: Interactive Telecommunications Program Theses is arranged into two subseries, Subseries A: Thesis Projects -- Paper and Subseries B: Thesis Projects -- Audio/Visual Formats, both of which are arranged chronologically by the year the project was completed

Series IV: Photographic Materials is arranged according to its original order.

Series V: Adjacent is arranged according to its original order.

Scope and Content

This collection contains the records of Tisch School of the Art's Alternative Media Center and Interactive Telecommunications Program. The collection spans the early 1970s, when the Alternative Media Center was first established, through 2012 and contains administrative records, correpondence, publications, thesis projects, issues of ADJACENT, and photographic materials.

The majority of the materials in the collection are thesis projects completed by students in the Interactive Telecommunications Program which was established in 1979. Approximately half of the theses are paper documents, while the other half range in format from VHS, mini-DV, CD, DVD, U-Matic, Hi 8 tape, Floppy Disc, and Zip Disc. In addition, the series of photographic materials contains prints, slides, and negatives.

Subjects

Genres

Theses.

People

Burns, Red

Topics

Telecommunication.

Conditions Governing Access

Material pertaining to individual student records may be restricted in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Please contact the Archives with specific questions regarding access to such records.

Unprocessed materials are not available to researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

Some materials may be restricted. Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
New York University Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2641
Fax: (212) 995-4225
E-mail: university-archives@nyu.edu

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date (if known); Records of the Alternative Media Center and Interactive Telecommunications Program; RG 35.2; Box number; folder number; New York University Archives, New York University.

To cite the archived website in this collection: Identification of item, date; Records of the Alternative Media Center and Interactive Telecommunications Program; RG 35.2; Wayback URL; New York University Archives, New York University.

Location of Materials

The collection is in off-site storage. Contact the University Archives for details.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

In 2018, https://itp.nyu.edu/adjacent/ was selected by curators and captured through the use of Archive-It. Archive-It uses web crawling technology to capture websites at a scheduled time and displays only an archived copy, from the resulting WARC file, of the website. In December 2022, https://adjacent-rituals.itp.io/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2023.006. In December 2023, https://adjacent-ecoscope.itp.io/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2023.003. In January 2025, https://itp.nyu.edu/adjacent_classic/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2025.004.

Take Down Policy

Archived websites are made accessible for purposes of education and research. NYU Libraries have given attribution to rights holders when possible; however, due to the nature of archival collections, we are not always able to identify this information.

If you hold the rights to materials in our archived websites that are unattributed, please let us know so that we may maintain accurate information about these materials.

If you are a rights holder and are concerned that you have found material on this website for which you have not granted permission (or is not covered by a copyright exception under US copyright laws), you may request the removal of the material from our site by submitting a notice, with the elements described below, to the special.collections@nyu.edu.

Please include the following in your notice: Identification of the material that you believe to be infringing and information sufficient to permit us to locate the material; your contact information, such as an address, telephone number, and email address; a statement that you are the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed and that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and made under penalty of perjury; and your physical or electronic signature. Upon receiving a notice that includes the details listed above, we will remove the allegedly infringing material from public view while we assess the issues identified in your notice.

Collection processed by

Kerry Heimer. Additional description by Katie Ehrlich.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-01-24 21:27:43 UTC.

Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Processing Note

Some of the materials in this collection arrived at the University Archives in no discernible order. Where an order could be ascertained, it was maintained when doing so would facilitate access to the materials. The order and folder titles of all administrative records were maintained and transcribed as received.

The thesis projects presented no original order, and the printed theses were found filed among the administrative records. All thesis projects were separated into a single series subdivided into two subseries organized by format. The audiovisual recordings and electronic records in Subseries II were arranged in loose chronological order by the date of the project's completion, to the extent that it could be determined. The media have been physically housed by format.

The archived websites were added to the finding aid as Series V in 2022-2024.

Revisions to this Guide

January 2025: Edited by Nicole Greenhouse to add archived websites

Repository

New York University Archives