Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Poynter Center
- Abstract:
- The Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics & American Institutions is an endowed ethics research center established in 1972 at Indiana University Bloomington. The collection consists of the Center's administrative files arranged by subject, documenting the creation and growth of the center and its programs and events. Materials include correspondence, reports, syllabi, program and seminar materials, video and audio tapes, and photographic materials generated and received by the Poynter Center.
- Extent:
- 23.4 cubic feet (24 boxes)
- Language:
- Materials are in English
- Preferred citation:
[Item], Poynter Center records, Collection C590, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
Background
- Biographical / Historical:
The Poynter Center is an endowed ethics research center located at Indiana University Bloomington. Established in 1972 with funding from the late Nelson Poynter, an alumnus of Indiana University, the Poynter Center is dedicated to studying a broad range of ethical issues in American public life and facilitating intellectual interactions across the schools of Indiana University and the wider public. The founding director was William Lee Miller, who served from 1972-1982. David H. Smith served as director from 1982 until his retirement in 2003, and is currently the interim director. Richard Miller served as director from 2003-2013.
Through its programming, the Poynter Center addresses bioethics, religion, political ethics, research ethics, professional and educational ethics, technology, and many other areas. Initiatives over the years include courses such as "The Citizen and the News," supported by the Ford Foundation, which began in the fall of 1975 and studies the institutions that produce news and information about public affairs in America. The Center also brings in Poynter Fellows to lecture, participate in workshops, and author essays on communications and news media.
The Center has sponsored numerous other projects such as teaching and research workshops, public discussion series, sponsorship of undergraduate activities, interdisciplinary seminars, and research collaborations, promoting moral deliberation across all areas of life, including, but not limited to, science and technology, medicine and healthcare, education, professionalism, business, and democratic life and culture. Many of these courses and workshops held from the 1970s through the 1980s utilized audio or visual recordings of interviews and commentators presenting and discussing various American documents and issues. These materials were used on campus as well as loaned out or copied upon request to institutions around the United States for use in the classroom and to stimulate public discourse. Some recordings were also made at WTIU, with the support of the Indiana Committee for the Humanities.
- Scope and Content:
The Administrative files series is organized alphabetically by subject, as received from the Center. Files are composed of records relating to departmental activities, events and symposiums, classroom materials and curricula, and various public discussion series sponsored by the center. One folder of slides, negatives, and photos has been removed and transferred to the Archives photo collection. Contact the Photographs Curator for further information.
The Audiovisual materials include film, video, and audio recordings of lectures, seminars and presentations on a wide range of topics. They have been sorted by format in preparation for the Media Digitization and Preservation Initiative, with one box of mixed materials. Items include U-Matic videotapes (125), 5" Sony V-30H 1/2" video reels (34), 7" Sony V-30H and Scotch HE 1/2" video reels (144), 1/4" open reel audio tapes (22), VHS tapes (5), cassette tapes (2), and one 2-inch quadraphonic film reel. One Sony timer recording adapter is also included. Few of the materials are dated, but likely span a time period from the 1970s-1990s. A printed list with descriptions of some of the videos is located in the "Videotapes" file in Box 6.
- Acquisition information:
- Accession: 99/033, 2002/046
- Custodial history:
Paper records transferred from the Poynter Center to the University Archives June 7, 1999. Audiovisual materials transferred July, 2003.
- Processing information:
Processed by Jeannine Roe.
Completed in 2015
- Arrangement:
Collection is organized into two series: Administrative files and Audiovisual Materials.
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
Collection is open for research. Advance notice required.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
Copyrights for records originating with Indiana University administrative units, departments, and other offices are held by the Trustees of Indiana University. For more information, please contact the Indiana University Archives staff.
The Indiana University Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not claim any copyrights for non-university records, materials in the public domain, or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. Responsibility for the determination of the copyright status of these materials rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials. Researchers are responsible for securing permission from copyright owners and any other rights holders for any reuse of these materials that extends beyond fair use or other statutory limitations.
Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University Archives are made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. If you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have questions about its inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University Archivist.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
[Item], Poynter Center records, Collection C590, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
-
Herman B Wells Library E4601320 East Tenth StreetBloomington, Indiana 47405-7000, United States
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- CONTACT:
-
812-855-1127archives@iu.edu