Upcoming Events
Eleanor Waltzes: Women’s Poetry and Music for Eleanor Roosevelt During the Great Depression
Saturday, September 26, 2026 3:00pm
“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)
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)
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)
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...
Spacer
Upcoming Application Deadlines
Upcoming Application Deadlines
News
CSSI Invites Applications for Co-Sponsored Fall 2025 Obermann International Fellowships Program
The Center for Social Science Innovation (CSSI) is pleased to announce its co-sponsorship of a Fall 2025 Obermann Center for Advanced Studies International Fellowship.
The fellowship program provides international researchers and artists with the opportunity to develop collegiate collaborations and pursue independent work at the University of Iowa.
CSSI will co-sponsor one fellow who aims to conduct innovative social science research on campus. Prospective fellows can request a CSSI co-sponsorship within their application.
In tandem with the benefits provided by the Obermann Center, fellows co-sponsored by CSSI will be provided with a quiet, dedicated office space at CSSI and access to the Center’s amenities (such as meeting rooms, break areas, and office support).
Humanities Without Walls Externship Program Fosters Career Diversity, Community Collaboration
At some point, every student pursuing a graduate degree in the humanities has been asked, “So you're going to be a professor?” Humanities PhDs and MAs are often seen as hyperspecialized degrees useful only in the realm of academia—but in fact, the analytical and communication skills, as well as the broad understanding of culture attained through high-level study of the humanities, sets students up for success in a variety of careers, especially in the nonprofit sector. As globalization and rapid technological advancements are transforming the job market and accelerating its pace of change, it’s essential that graduate students be prepared to apply their skills in unexpected ways. University faculty, however, are not typically trained to guide these students toward meaningful, productive careers outside of academia.
Obermann Center Invites International Applicants for Residential Fellows Program
The Obermann Center is thrilled to announce that it is expanding its residential fellowship program to accept international researchers and artists. Fellowships offer dedicated space, time, and funding for scholars and artists based outside of the United States to develop collaborations and pursue independent work at the University of Iowa. Up to eight international fellowships will be granted every academic year, and fellows will receive a $2,000 stipend, office space at the Obermann Center, access to University of Iowa libraries, and other benefits.
Global connections: How international faculty shape Iowa’s future
On September 26, 2024, International Programs hosted a webinar focused on international faculty success in international scholarship and creative work as a part of the Cultivating Success: A Global Faculty Initiative series. Obermann Center director Luis Martín-Estudillo joined a distinguished panel of UI faculty experts to offer valuable insights into navigating the complexities of academia as an international faculty member at Iowa.
Introducing Counterpoint, the Obermann Center's Newest Series
This October, the Obermann Center is thrilled to present the inaugural event in our new annual public conversation series, Counterpoint. These events will highlight a University of Iowa scholar with a long career of making critical contributions to their field, placing them in dialogue across the disciplines with another scholar from a different yet complementary field.
Sorting Through Scholarship
Three months ago, I stepped into the Obermann Center’s library for the first time. My task was simple, if sizeable: I needed to organize the ~600 volumes in the collection by the end of the summer.
As a student in Iowa’s School of Library & Information Science, I was excited for my first solo library project. I’ve been interested in academic librarianship, scholarly communications, and research support for a long time. However, I knew I would have to approach the work strategically and manage my time well in order to succeed.
Our goal was to transform the library into a showcase for the works of Obermann scholars. But we also own many books that are unrelated to Obermann, and all of our books were intermingled without regard for subject, date, or author. After about thirty minutes of pacing up and down the library on my first day, I decided I was going to take every book off the shelf.
Lights, Camera, Action!
During their Obermann Interdisciplinary Research Grant (IDRG) in summer 2024, screenwriter Dean Bakopoulos (Cinematic Arts) and drama scholar Jennifer Buckley (English & Theatre Arts) wrote the pilot for a new historical TV miniseries: Anton & Olga.
The show, which Bakopoulos and Buckley plan to pitch to producers early next year, follows revolutionary playwright Anton Chekhov, actress Olga Knipper, and their colleagues at the newly-established Moscow Arts Theater (MAT) through personal, political, and artistic upheaval at the end of the nineteenth century. By exploring the creative clashes and collaborations that fueled Chekhov and the MAT, Bakopoulos and Buckley aim to reintroduce modern audiences to an important part of theatrical history. “So many of our ideas of what counts as ‘good acting’ come from them [the MAT],” explains Buckley, “especially from their co-founder, Konstantin Stanislavski, whose ‘system’ still gets taught today in acting programs. Our demands for nuance, subtlety, and emotional truth are all founded on their work.”
Data Justice for Flint: Seamster Leads Effort to Build Accessible Archive
For seven years, the Obermann Center at the University of Iowa has been a partner in the Mellon-funded Humanities Without Walls consortium led by Professor Antoinette Burton at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Graduate students from Iowa have attended HWW’s Career Diversity Summer Workshops, and several faculty members have worked with cross-institutional Grand Research Challenge teams. This year, we are delighted that Assistant Professor Louise Seamster (Departments of Sociology & Criminology and African American Studies) was selected as the P.I. of a team focused on "The Flint Water Disaster Public Archive."
The “Flint Water Disaster Public Archive” will re-home public data that has been largely inaccessible to Flint communities — a form of data justice that is of urgent relevance to the history, present, and future of those communities. The project is a collaboration among the University of Iowa, University of Michigan–Flint and the Flint Democracy Defense League.
Building a World of Possibility
In 2010, Professor Teresa Mangum picked up a paintbrush alongside administrator and compatriot Neda Hatami. The two began transforming the Tudor-style house at 111 Church Street into what is now the University of Iowa’s Obermann Center for Advanced Studies. It wasn’t just a fresh coat of paint. From the start of her fourteen-year tenure as director of the Obermann Center—which falls under the auspices of the Office of the Vice President of Research and is located across from the UI President’s residence—Teresa has been building a legacy.
“My favorite thing is watching how people enter the space,” she remarks, speaking about the Center with a mixture of Midwestern lucidity and Southern warmth. “People walk in and you can see them thinking, This is what I thought it would be like to be at a university. The image of people’s faces when they walk in is one of my guiding lights. How do we keep the hope for an intellectual life alive?”
Martín-Estudillo named new director of Obermann Center for Advanced Studies
Luis Martín-Estudillo, professor and collegiate scholar in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will serve as the next director of the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies (OCAS). His appointment will begin July 1.
“We are very excited that Professor Martín-Estudillo has agreed to lead the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies into its next chapter,” said Kristy Nabhan-Warren, associate vice president for research. “He brings a wealth of international connections, fresh ideas, and a proven track record of collaboration across units and disciplines here at Iowa and beyond. The search committee was deeply impressed with his vision for the center, and the campus feedback we solicited confirmed and amplified our excitement for new possibilities for OCAS.”
For more than four decades, the OCAS has served as an interdisciplinary hub for artists, scholars, and researchers who bridge campus with the larger world.
