The Faculty Symposium Committee organized the symposium "The Nineties: Fin de Siecle or Vision of the Future?" held in the RISD Auditorium 1990 October 12. Coordinated by Assistant Professor of Liberal Arts and Photography Deborah Bright, the symposium featured presentations by RISD faculty and guest Benny Andrews on three panels. The Office of Academic Affairs and the Museum of Art sponsored the event with funding provided by the Museum's Talbot Rantoul Fund, the Liberal Arts Division Humanities Fund, and the Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities. This collection includes symposium print documentation and video recordings.

The video recordings are the result of a digital preservation project made possible in part by a Libraries of Rhode Island (LORI) grant from the RI Office of Library & Information Services using funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.