When WNDU was christened in 1955, Theodore Hesburgh pledged that the university-owned commercial broadcasting station would serve as an educational laboratory enabling students to contribute the betterment of society through “the marvelous medium of television.” While the station hosted courses and interns over the next few decades, the goal of offering a multi-year course of study in television at Notre Dame sputtered. Instead, the most comprehensive TV education on campus then was offered to area high school students via Beyond Our Control (BOC), a sketch comedy show produced at WNDU (1968-1986). It wasn’t until fifty years after WNDU's inception that the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre formally launched a TV major, ironically in the same year that the university sold the station. This presentation will delve into the catalysts that enabled BOC and, eventually, FTT’s middle T to substantiate Father Hesburgh’s faith in the educational power of television.
Christine Becker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Film, Teleiviosn, and Theatre
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This event is free to attend and open to faculty, staff, and students.