The UI’s Obermann Center for Advanced Studies serves the research mission of the University of Iowa. The Center is a convening space dedicated to debate and discovery. Its grants for University of Iowa artists and researchers support imaginative collaborations and multi-disciplinary exploration. Its programming connects scholars across campus and engages the larger public in the ambitious, illuminating, and transformative work of the artists and scholars it serves.

The purpose of the annual Obermann Symposium is to explore an important topic that highlights UI scholars and scholarship and includes both UI and visiting participants.