News & Events

Upcoming Events & Deadlines

Eleanor Waltzes: Women’s Poetry and Music for Eleanor Roosevelt During the Great Depression

Saturday, September 26, 2026 3:00pm

Voxman Music Building

“Eleanor Waltzes” honors First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt through performances of songs and poetry created and sent to her by American women. The event will also feature an exhibit of materials from the Iowa Women’s Archives and a “making do” reception with 1930s recipes. “Eleanor Waltzes” is part of Sounding the Nation at 250, a series of commemorative concerts surrounding the U.S. Semiquincentennial sponsored by the Society for American Music.

Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, 3 p.m.

Recital Hall, Voxman...

Registration Deadline: Junior Faculty and Graduate Student Session with Walter Biggins, Obermann Editor-in-Residence

Wednesday, September 30, 2026 (all day)

111 Church Street

University of Iowa junior faculty and graduate students at all stages are invited to join Walter Biggins—editor-in-chief at the University of Pennsylvania Press—for a light breakfast and a conversation about turning an article, thesis, or dissertation into a book on Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 9–10:30 a.m. at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies library. Please bring any questions you have about that process or about scholarly publishing in general.

Register by Wednesday, September 30.

Biggins is...

Registration Deadline: Undergraduate Career Session with Walter Biggins, Obermann Editor-in-Residence

Wednesday, September 30, 2026 (all day)

111 Church Street

Interested in a career in publishing? In this session on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at noon at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, Walter Biggins, editor-in-chief at University of Pennsylvania Press, will discuss his career path and editorial work. This is an opportunity for students to hear directly from a distinguished professional about the realities of the field and to gain insight into how to prepare for a career in publishing. Pizza will be provided!

Please register by Wednesday, September 30.

B...

RSVP Deadline: AMA with Walter Biggins, Obermann Editor-in-Residence

Wednesday, September 30, 2026 (all day)

111 Church Street

UI faculty, students, and staff are invited to attend ask-me-anything group discussions with Walter Biggins—editor-in-chief at University of Pennsylvania Press—at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 1 at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies. Questions might address finding an editor, pitching a book, writing a book proposal, how the publishing process works, etc.

There will be two back-to-back discussions; you may attend one or both.

Please RSVP by Wednesday, September 30.

Free and open to all.

Bi...

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News

The Community surrounding the Towncrest Center while their street sign is being installed.

Where Money Meets the People: What Academics Can Do for Their Community

Aaron Stagner

Five years ago, I was sitting at a desk a lot like the one I’m sitting at now, doing similar things. In 2021, I taught ESL and adult continuing education classes in Houston, Texas. Teaching both new and established residents made it clear that anybody, from anywhere, could make Houston their home. Working closely with my community, I discovered one of the most important requirements for my students to establish themselves successfully: literacy. Both in language and technology, literacy allowed my students to thrive, get jobs, and build a community.

Full Circle: Interning at the Neighborhood Centers

Robin Johnstone

Through the Humanities Without Walls program—administered by the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies—I was placed in a paid summer internship at the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County, a natural fit given the organization’s focus on education and telling stories about the communities they serve. My work this summer involves writing profiles of the staff and neighbors around the Pheasant Ridge community, developing a podcast to highlight a variety of ethnic communities in Iowa City, and utilizing my background in pre-college planning, improvisation, and empowering others to tell their own stories.

Bridging Continents with AI: Prof. Washington Okeyo’s Vision for Entrepreneurship Education

Maria Torres Melgares

This spring, the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies welcomed Professor Washington Okeyo as an Obermann International Fellow. Working closely with the Tippie College of Business, Prof. Okeyo used his fellowship to explore a rapidly evolving frontier: the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into entrepreneurship education.

“Mass Migrations: Personal Voices”: The Iowa Writing Model Crosses Borders to Empower Venezuelan Women in Uruguay

Maria Torres Melgares

Storytelling is intrinsic to the human experience. Since prehistoric times, we have made sense of our lives—and of ourselves—through narrative. Today, that enduring power of literature lies at the heart of “Mass Migrations: Personal Voices,” a research project co-funded by the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Iowa and the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes. This international collaboration brings together the University of Iowa and the Universidad de la República, Uruguay’s principal public university. Led by Luis Martín-Estudillo, director of the Obermann Center, and Fernando Ordóñez of the Universidad de la República, the project centers on a population both vulnerable and remarkably resilient: Venezuelan migrant women who have arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay, seeking refuge from an ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Building Bonds That Heal: Inside UI’s Human-Animal Interactions Collaborative

Rylee Newland

This article is a special contribution by UI undergraduate Rylee Newland, a journalism and mass communication major. She wrote this piece for her Spring 2026 Reporting and Writing class. The University of Iowa recently became home to the Human-Animal Interactions for Wellbeing Collaborative in the fall of 2025. This collaborative is one of the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies’ newest working groups. The collaborative is co-directed by Adrienne Johnson, an associate professor of instruction in the health, sport and human physiology department, and Katy Schroeder, an associate professor in the College of Education. The Human-Animal Interactions for Wellbeing Collaborative seeks to bridge the gap between academic research and community knowledge surrounding human-animal interactions. The group brings together scholars and advocates from various disciplines, with the ultimate goal of creating a space where discussions around best practices, ethics, and education on animal-assisted interventions can be held.

Stephanie Miracle to Receive Obermann Interdisciplinary Achievement Award

We’re pleased to announce that our Advisory Board has named Stephanie Miracle, assistant professor of dance, the recipient of the inaugural Obermann Interdisciplinary Achievement Award. The new award recognizes scholars who cross disciplinary boundaries to produce insights not possible within a single field. As interdisciplinarity is a core value of the Obermann Center’s mission, director Luis Martín-Estudillo established the award, noting, “The most transformative ideas emerge when disciplines intersect […] These collaborations spark breakthroughs that expand the horizons of knowledge.”

A Universe in the Ear: Tinnitus Research with Anna Carolina Marques Perrella de Barros

Maria Torres Melgares

What does it mean to live with a sound that has no external source? For millions worldwide, this is the daily reality of tinnitus—a complex auditory symptom that can range from a minor annoyance to a deeply distressing condition. This "universe" of sound is the primary focus of Anna Carolina Marques Perrella de Barros, an audiologist and researcher from the Tinnitus and Sound Intolerance Group at the Universidade Federal de São Paulo in Brazil. Her pursuit of advanced clinical management strategies and research collaboration brought her to the University of Iowa as an Obermann International Fellow.

Building community around rural research

Office of the Vice President for Research

A pregnant woman in rural Iowa must make so many extra decisions about her and her baby’s health. It isn’t just whether she should go to the hospital about unexpected complications, but which one. If she goes to the closest hospital, will it have the expertise to treat her? If not, will it have an ambulance that can transfer her to a more urban hospital? One Iowa mom facing these questions inspired Stephanie Radke, clinical associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Iowa, to found the Iowa Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative (IPQCC). IPQCC is responsible for improving communication and collaboration among groups addressing obstetrical and neonatal care in Iowa, especially in rural communities.

members of the Human-Animal Interactions for Wellbeing working group, with therapy dog

New initiative expands human-animal interactions in UI community

The Daily Iowan

The Human-Animal Interactions for Well-Being Collaborative, which is co-directed by Adrienne Johnson and Katy Schroeder, will expand opportunities and awareness for human-animal interactions around campus.

Beyond “Not Urban”: Andy Mink on Serving Rural Communities

Maria Torres Melgares

Obermann Center for Advanced Studies

As part of the 2025–2026 Obermann Symposium, Cultivating Rurality: Building Community around Rural Research (March 26–27), we’re excited to welcome Andy Mink, founding director of the Smithsonian’s Rural Initiative. In his keynote “More than ‘Not Urban’: Serving Rural Communities as Places and as People” on March 27, he'll explore how the Smithsonian is redefining itself as more than a destination in Washington, D.C., becoming a public service accessible to rural communities nationwide through collaborative, community-sourced partnerships that respond to local priorities and challenges. In advance of his visit, Obermann Program Coordinator Maria Torres Melgares spoke with Andy about his work and the ideas he’ll bring to the symposium.

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Recent Events

Application Deadline: Fall 2026 Obermann Writing Collective

Thursday, August 27, 2026 5:00pm

111 Church Street

This program offers accountability to artists, scholars, and researchers working on any kind of writing project (articles, essays, fellowship or grant applications, dissertations, book projects, edited volumes, etc.) who want dedicated time, a cozy space, and a community for the practice of writing. Each group meets once a week for 1.5 hours in the Writers' Attic at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies (111 Church St.). Weekly writing sessions include brief check-ins, goal setting, and...

Conflict and Resolution — An Obermann Wide Lens Event

Wednesday, May 6, 2026 4:00pm to 5:30pm

Iowa Memorial Union (IMU)

In a world shaped by tension, disagreement, and change, conflict surrounds us, from moments of personal friction to struggles within communities and across nations. It surfaces in our institutions, our relationships, and the stories we tell about ourselves and others. How do conflicts take shape and persist? How are they influenced by power, perspective, and history? Can conflict be generative? What forms might resolution take? How do we begin that process?

This Wide Lens event brings together...

Conifer String Quartet at the Obermann Center

Friday, May 1, 2026 6:30pm to 8:00pm

111 Church Street

Join us for a festive evening of live music as the Obermann Center welcomes an outstanding UI string quartet!

The Conifer Quartet will present a dynamic program featuring works spanning from the classical era to contemporary pieces by our own University of Iowa faculty. To provide deeper context, the musicians will briefly discuss the history, themes, and styles of each movement before playing, and we will open the floor for an audience Q&A at the end of the performance.

We look forward to sharing...