Dr. Alan Stephenson,

Professor and Director of the Graduate Program

Greetings, thanks for visiting my page. I've been at JCU since 1985 and teach courses in television production, film, photojournalism and broadcast management. I also direct the Graduate program in Communications Management. 

I'm an upstate New Yorker who got his bachelors and masters from the State University at Albany and my PhD at Ohio State. Worked in broadcasting and cable for 20 years, doing everything from sweeping floors to managing. Most of the time was spent as a writer, producer, director and photographer. Spent quite a bit of time in film production and visited about two dozen countries in the process. Got to do my first film while still in high school. Won a few awards along the way.

Planned to become a college teacher while still in my 20's, but wanted a TV career first. It actually worked out that way. JCU has some very nice facilities, with very much of a hands-on philosophy. Students get to work with both Photoshop and non-linear editing as well as many other things. There's a more complete list at this address. Studying television is a good way to learn about film making, while saving a considerable number of dollars in lab fees. We've had several grads go in to further work at film schools.  

I've been a collector (or accumulator) all my life. Still have papers from grade school. Biggest interest now is old documents and manuscripts, which I define as anything with a significant amount of handwriting on it. I have many letters, wills, court orders, etc. primarily from the period 1750 -1850. Its a great way to get a feel for the times and the people. I have a BA in history and still enjoy the field. There are documents and manuscripts that sell for hundreds, even thousands of dollars. I don't play in that league, rather I find them in antique shops and at auctions for a few dollars. 

Below are a couple of interesting samples. First is a such a letter from an uncle to his nephew, instructing him to stop writing to his cousin, (the man's daughter). In that era it was not unusual to marry your cousin and Mr. Skidmore apparently didn't want anything to develop. The other is a three pager describing the hard times being experienced by the people who have been moving west. Most want to go back east but are too broke to move. The writer has bought some oxen and he and a partner are going further west to break prairie. To me its a little like being there. 

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to correspond with you via email. My address is alstevsonj@aol.com

Dr. Stephenson In the News

"Second Edition of 'Broadcast Announcing Worktext'", Posted January 31, 2005 (Story contributed by Dr. Alan Stephenson)