The American Assembly

WNET (Television station : New York, N.Y.) · April 1, 1963

"Dr. Henry M. Wriston, chairman of The American Assembly - a public affairs institute affiliated with Columbia University which assists Americans in arriving at a consensus on important public policy questions - hosts this program. The program "American Assembly: Cultural Affairs and Foreign Relations" concerns what has been called "the fourth dimension of foreign policy" - international cultural, scientific, and educational activities. Dr. Wriston and his guest examine the educational, scientific, and artistic exchange of ideas and the relationship between this nation's non-political activities abroad and its foreign policy. During the first portion of the program, Dr. Wriston and two of his guests - Philip H. Coombs and Albert G. Sims - discuss the scope of our international exchange activities in education, the arts, and science. Specifically, they consider the significance of these reputedly non-political activities as an element in foreign relations, the work of the Institute of International Education, the role of the Department of State, and the political usefulness of international cultural, scientific and educational activities. During the second portion of the program, Dr. Wriston discusses the role of private individuals in international cultural affairs and the importance of translations with Mildred Adams, and the integrity of US exchange programs in the arts and the humanities with Dr. W. McNeil Lowry. Dr Henry M. Wriston, chairman of The American Assembly, is president of the Council on Foreign Relations, president emeritus of Brown University, and chairman of the President's Commission on National Goals. Philip H. Coombs, of the Brookings Institution, is former Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. Albert G. Sims is executive vice president of the Institute of International Education. Dr. W. McNeil Lowry is director of the program in Humanities and the Arts, the Ford Foundation. Miss Mildred Adams (Mrs. Huston Kenyon) is a freelance writer and translator of Jose Ortega y Gasset, a Spanish philosopher and writer who died in 1955. The American Assembly: Cultural Affairs and Foreign Relations: a production of WNDT, New York City, in cooperation with The American Assembly." (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche) 1 hour program, produced in 1963 by WNDT, originally shot on videotape.