Mediating History

Independently-produced video, produced outside of mainstream commercial channels, provides a pool of shared imagery about the American past and the American people which is unique. The multiple voices, experiences, and perspectives represented in this diverse work are a rich resource for historical research and teaching. Many professors utilize video as supplementary material in the classroom, but despite the growing use of video in general, independently-produced works are among the least known and therefore least accessible resources. Mediating History is designed to introduce historians to multicultural media as a resource in teaching, and provides and introduction to this work on three levels. First, each title entry includes an annotation and full filmographic information for over 125 selected video titles. Second, there are ten essays that provide background information on the themes and issues raised in the videos and suggestions for their introduction into history teaching. Finally, there is a guide to alternative media resources: journals, organizations, distributors, etc. The multicultural approach of this project is intended to enrich the teaching of history by introducing new evidence, diverse voices, and multiple perspectives that more fully describe complex historical and social realities. The contributors to this guide are: Patricia Aufderheide (American University), Deidre Boyle (The New School for Social Research), Caryl Chin (Independent Curator), Cheryl Chisholm (Filmmaker), Kimberly Everett (Independent Producer), Lilian Jimenez (National Latino Film and Video Festival), Chon Noriega (University of New Mexico), Louise Spain (LaGuardia Community College, CUNY), and Elizabeth Weatherford (National Museum of the American Indidan, Smithsonian Institution).

Barbara Abrash is a teacher, administrator, and producer whose work focuses on the relationship between independent media and social history. She teaches in the graduate program in Public History at New York University.Catherine Egan directs the Avery Fisher Center for music and Media at New York University. Her interest in building media collections and working with faculty to use video in more innovative and effective ways has involved her as a programmer, writer, and workshop presenter.