American Democracy Project at MTSU

The American Democracy Project activities includes the following.

Instructional Technology Support Center Participation

The Instructional Technology Support Center at Middle Tennessee State University is pleased to participate in the American Democracy Project. We are participating in several related ways.

First, our Satellite Video-Conferencing Center will be providing satellite uplinking and video production services for two American Democracy lectures in November of 2003. Both of these lectures feature former Vice President Al Gore; they will be broadcast to up to 180 colleges and universities nationwide.

Media and Democracy
November 11 at 4:30 p.m.
State Farm Lecture Hall

Race and Democracry
November 18 at 4:30 p.m.
State Farm Lecture Hall

The Satellite Video-Conferencing Center is also featuring American democracy themes in our regularly scheduled television programs for K-12 teachers and students. We broadcast approximately 50 programs each year by satellite and cable television to K-12 schools in twelve counties. Several programs on our 2003-2004 schedule focus on our state and national cultural heritage. On September 30, 2003 we broadcast Popular Music: Southern Roots and Branches, presented by Dr. Charles Wolf of the English Department and a local band, The Cotton Kings. The program drew parallels between the evolution of popular music during the first half of the twentieth century and social and historical trends in the South. On October 7, 2003 the Frist Center for the Visual Arts presented Art of Tennessee, a program making cross curricular links between Tennessee history and the visual arts. On November 18, 2003 the Arts Center of Cannon County will present a program featuring traditional artists of the Cumberland Plateau. A program concerning Tennessee’s judicial system is planned for Spring of 2004. Another Spring 2004 program featuring Tennessee lobbyists will outline the process by which a bill moves through the state legislature from proposal of the legislation to eventual enactment. The Center for Historic Preservation also plans to present one or more programs during our Fall 2004 K-12 series.

Our Audio/Visual Services Department produces educational videos and cable television programs that enhance awareness of democratic principles and cultural history in the community. For example, we produce Recollections: The Middle Tennessee Voices of Their Times, a cable television series featuring Dr. Bob Bullen from MTSU’s Department of Educational Leadership. On October 3, 2003 we provided audio/visual support for the session of the Tennessee Supreme Court that was hosted by MTSU and attended by regional high school students. The session was part of the S.C.A.L.E.S. (Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students) project. The department also provides video production services for the John Siegenthaler lecture series each year. We are participating in the MTSU Printing Press Partnership that will construct a replica of Benjamin Franklin’s printing press as a cultural resource for the people of Tennessee. We will be producing a video documenting construction of the press.

Our Instructional Media Resources (IMR) Department will work with faculty across campus to purchase video and other media supporting the American Democracy Project. This material will then become part of our permanent media library collection.

The set of audio programs titled Vital History is now available in CD format. These programs were recorded and originally distributed through a joint effort between Encyclopedia Americana and CBS News Audio Resource Library. CBS News was generous in granting us permission to convert these programs to CD format. The MTSU Foundation's Special Projects Committee awarded IMR a grant to support converting the 1100+ titles from audiocasettes to CDs.

The programs cover people and events of national interest between 1972 and 1982. The following topics are representative, but not comprehensive: U.S. politics and government, art, literature, music, dance, environment, religion, Watergate, Vietnam, civil rights, women's issues, theatre. These recordings are excellent sources for research papers. They are available for students, faculty, and staff to check out, i.e. they do not have to be used in Instructional Media Resources. Faculty may place specific CDs on reserve for students to listen to in IMR just as they may do with video materials. Reserved materials may not be checked out of IMR for the duration of the reservation period.

These programs can be accessed on Voyager by using the Guided Keyword Search and entering Vital History, as a phrase, to search in the Series field. If you have questions about these materials or would like assistance searching them, please contact one of the IMR staff at 898-2740 or 898-2892.