New School Dean's Forum recordings
Abstract
The New School offered the Dean's Forum as a public programming series during the deanship of Ann-Louise Shapiro, which began in the months immediately following the September 11th World Trade Center terrorist attacks. The audiovisual recordings constituting the collection document guest speakers' responses to global terrorism, the United States' security and military policies, post 9/11 impacts on minorities, and concerns regarding the balance between civil liberties and security, as well as the future of New York City.
Dates
- 2002-2005
Creator
- New School (New York, N.Y.) (Host institution, Organization)
Extent
25 Analog Recordings
1 Audio CD
2 VHS Cassettes
11 1/4 inch Audio Cassette
12 minidv
Language of Materials
English
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of analog and digital audiovisual recordings documenting Dean's Forum public programming, situated within The New School for General Studies during the tenure of Ann-Louise Shapiro as dean. The recordings are a mix of sound and moving image with the latter predominating. According to codes in New School course catalogs, some of the programs were videotaped for the purpose of offering them via webcast or remotely supplying them to students enrolled in the New School Online program.
The collection appears to cover the duration of programming identified as "Dean's Forum"; other programming titled, "Dean's Forum," occurs at other colleges within the university in the 2000s, but it is not associated with this event series. The Spring 2005 lecture by Philip Gourevitch is the last advertised event in the series. Dean Shapiro's tenure as dean ended in 2005, and her successor did not continue the series.
The World Trade Center terrorist attacks in lower Manhattan and their political aftermath, including the invasion of Iraq under President George W. Bush, appear to have been the catalyst for the establishment of this programming series.
As described in the Fall 2004 New School for General Studies course catalog, the Dean's Forum was, "a series of lectures and discussions in which well known scholars and commentators examine topical issues; each semester's forum topic is matched to complementary courses. Students are encouraged to explore the topic in depth by taking one of the courses. The Dean's Forum is supported by a generous gift from Allen R. Adler and Frances Beatty Adler."
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research use. No access copies of the MiniDV recordings in the collection are currently available. Access to audio cassettes, VHS tapes, and CD files may be available in The New School Archives reading room, depending upon their condition once they are evaluated by Archives staff. Researchers desiring remote access and willing to pay a digitization fee may do so upon consultation with The New School Archives. Please contact archivist@newschool.edu for appointment to listen to audiocassettes and CD files and view VHS tapes in the reading room, or for more information about ordering digital files.
Conditions Governing Use
To publish material from this collection, permission must be obtained in writing from the New School Archives and Special Collections. Please contact: archivist@newschool.edu.
Historical note
The “Dean’s Forum” was an initiative at The New School (the division formerly known as the Adult Division and, as of 2025, called the Schools of Public Engagement) between 2002 and 2005, coinciding with the term of Ann-Louise Shapiro as dean of that university division. In 2025, university leadership began dissolving Schools of Public Engagement and transferring its programs into existing colleges and divisions.
The Dean’s Forum was a series of lectures and courses organized around a single theme, relevant to current events, held each semester. The forum paired a series of single lectures to semester-long courses, looking to attract people attending a single event to register for a longer course. The first theme, in Spring 2002, was “Understanding September 11: Probing the Past and Looking to the Future," which featured events and courses on terrorism, the Middle East, and Islam, following the terrorist attack on New York's World Trade Center towers in September 2001. In Fall 2002, the theme was “New York City: American Metropolis” (responding to New York City’s bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics); in Spring 2003, “Human Rights in a Changing World”; and “The United States in a Changing World: Where Do We Go from Here?” in Fall 2003. There was no forum in Spring 2004, but in Fall 2004 it was resumed with the theme “Minorities and the Goal of Inclusion: The International Landscape.” In Spring 2005, the Dean’s Forum took on a different format, only consisting of a single event, “The Dean’s Forum with Philip Gourevitch,” a lecture by the author and journalist Philip Gourevitch.
Ann-Louise Shapiro became dean of The New School in the Fall semester of 2001, succeeding acting dean Elissa Tenny. She was in turn succeeded by Linda Dunne in the Fall semester of 2005, who became interim dean of the newly-renamed New School for General Studies.
Sources:
The New School (2001). New School Bulletin 2002 Spring Vol. 59 No. 3 [course catalog]. New School Course Catalog Collection. New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS050101_ns2002sp>
The New School (2002). New School Bulletin 2002 Fall Vol. 60 No. 1 [course catalog]. New School Course Catalog Collection. New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS050101_ns2002fa>
The New School (2002). New School Bulletin 2003 Spring Vol. 60 No. 3 [course catalog]. New School Course Catalog Collection. New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS050101_ns2003sp>
The New School (2003). New School Bulletin 2003 Fall Vol. 61 No. 1 [course catalog]. New School Course Catalog Collection. New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS050101_ns2003fa>
The New School (2004). New School Bulletin 2004 Fall Vol. 62 No. 1 [course catalog]. New School Course Catalog Collection. New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS050101_ns2004fa>
The New School (2004). New School Bulletin 2005 Spring Vol. 62 No. 3 [course catalog]. New School Course Catalog Collection. New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS050101_ns2005sp>
The New School (2002, 2006). Dean’s Forum Lectures. The New School Schools of Public Engagement Office of the Executive Dean records (unprocessed collection). New School Archives and Special Collections.
Arrangement
Arranged in chronological order.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Pam Tillis, director of public programs for The New School for Public Engagement, transferred the recordings to The New School Archives in two groupings, the first, large accession upon the Archives's establishment in 2012 and a smaller accession in 2014.
Processing Information
New School Archives staff based all description in this finding aid on container inscriptions, course catalogs, and archival periodicals research, as well as publicity files in the New School Office of Communications, George Calderaro records (NS.03.01.03). Staff did not listen to the tapes or disc to verify content.
- Audiocassettes (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Human rights (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Mini-DV (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Minorities (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- New York (inhabited place) (Places) Subject Source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001 (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- United States--Politics and government (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Guide to the New School Dean's Forum recordings
- Status
- In Process
- Author
- Jack Wells, Jason Adam and Jenny Swadosh
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin