Original Works of Art by Carter to be Installed on the Occasion of the Institute’s Naming

Arthur Carter's Composition in Red, Yellow, and Blue
Arthur Carter's Composition in Red, Yellow, and Blue

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Original Works of Art by Carter to be Installed on the Occasion of the Institute’s Naming

New York University’s Faculty of Arts and Science has re-designated its Department of Journalism the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, in recognition of Arthur Carter’s long-time support of journalism education at the university. NYU will celebrate the new designation of its journalism program at an Oct. 6 ceremony.

Carter, founder of the New York Observer and the Litchfield County Times, has previously supported the department with fellowships, scholarships, and sponsored lectures. He also has taught as an adjunct professor of philosophy and journalism at NYU.

In addition, Carter, who is also an accomplished artist, has given two of his works to the Institute to be installed in its new space at 20 Cooper Square. Composition in Red, Yellow, and Blue (2006) is a large-scale, acrylic-on-canvas painting (60”x 84”; 152.4 x 213.4 cm.) formed of bold, geometric lines and angles, and Psyche (2000) is a graceful sculpture of seven interlocking, angular stainless steel shapes (84” x 44” x 36”; 213.4 x 111.8 x 91.4 cm.).

“I’m deeply honored that NYU is naming the Journalism Institute for me,” said Arthur L. Carter. “As my commitment to the university is long-standing, it gives me great pleasure to be recognized in this way. I am also pleased to have two of my works of art installed at the Journalism Institute’s new home where they can be enjoyed by new audiences for years to come.”

The Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute will remain in NYU’s Faculty of Arts and Science. Its establishment culminates a major effort to rethink and reinvigorate university-level journalism education; it reflects the faculty’s long-held belief that journalism is best taught in a strong liberal arts environment where learning to acquire, and acquiring, specific knowledge matters as much if not more than learning skills. To that end, graduate students study together in small, distinct units, each with a tailored curriculum that varies in subject matter and emphasis. Undergraduates must complete a second full major within NYU’s College of Arts and Science.

“The journalism program at NYU emphasizes exemplary professional skills within the context of a rich liberal arts education, fostering a broad intellectual outlook, and a critical perspective on the media’s role in society,” said Richard Foley, NYU’s Arts and Science dean.

Foley has appointed Brooke Kroeger as the Institute’s first director. She has been department chair since the spring of 2005, during which time the department revamped its undergraduate curriculum and implemented its new graduate construct. It moved to a new facility at 20 Cooper Square whose design mirrors the curriculum’s emphasis on eliminating any lingering distinctions among old, new, digital, print and broadcast media.

In addition, 16 new members have joined the faculty in these three years, among them winners and recipients of the Pulitzer, National Book Critics Circle, George Polk, Lannan Literary, MacArthur, Guggenheim, and Dupont awards. In the new faculty category of Distinguished Writers in Residence are Pete Hamill, journalist and novelist; Paul Berman, author of Power and the Idealists, a writer on politics and literature; Ted Conover, the author of four books of nonfiction, including Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing; Lee Hotz, a science and technology reporter for the Wall Street Journal; James McBride, a writer and composer whose books include the memoir The Color of Water and the novels Miracle at St. Anna and Song Yet Sung; and, Lawrence Weschler, a former staff writer for the New Yorker since the 1980s and the author of several books, including Everything that Rises: A Book of Convergences; Vermeer in Bosnia: Cultural Comedies, and Political Tragedies. Weschler is also the director of the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU.

Faculty hires in the past 12 months are: Mohamad Bazzi, who was Newsday’s correspondent in Beirut and Baghdad; Frankie Edozien from The African magazine and The New York Post; Suketu Mehta, author of Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found; Katie Roiphe, author of The Morning After: Sex, Fear and Feminism and Uncommon Arrangements, among other works; and Jason Samuels, an ABC News digital producer, previously of NBC “Dateline.” Samuels recently moved to the long-form unit at ESPN.

The Arthur L. Carter Institute is planning a series of public events to be announced in the coming months. For Fall 2009, it is accepting applications for two new graduate study opportunities: “Literary Reportage,” which blends journalism’s emphasis on rigorous reporting and research with traditional academic disciplines in teaching long-form nonfiction, and “Studio 20,” in which students will learn to develop innovative video, audio, and experimental web-based journalism intended for a live public beyond campus.

These two tracks bring to 10 the Institute’s graduate offerings, which include Science, Health and Environmental Reporting, Cultural Reporting and Criticism, Business and Economic Reporting, Global and Joint Program Studies, Reporting New York, Reporting the Nation, News and Documentary and Magazine Writing.

For more on the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, go to http://journalism.nyu.edu/

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