Upcoming Events & Deadlines

Application Deadline: Obermann Working Groups (2027–30) promotional image

Application Deadline: Obermann Working Groups (2027–30)

Wednesday, April 7, 2027 5:00pm
111 Church Street

Obermann Center Working Groups provide space, structure, and discretionary funding for groups led by faculty that may include advanced graduate students, staff members, and community members with a shared intellectual interest.

Groups have used this opportunity to share their work in progress or draw up a set of readings they want to undertake and discuss. Others have organized conferences, applied for grants together, written articles together, designed new courses, taken field trips, organized...

Application Deadline: Book Ends Book Completion Workshop promotional image

Application Deadline: Book Ends Book Completion Workshop

Thursday, May 31, 2029 (all day)
111 Church Street

Books Ends—Obermann Book Completion Workshop supports University of Iowa faculty from disciplines in which publishing a monograph is required for tenure and promotion. The award is designed to assist faculty members turn promising manuscripts into important, field-changing, published books.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

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News

Translating Ixtlilxochitl’s Thirteenth Relation

Jennifer New
At the death of an Aztec king, two brothers contest their father’s throne. A civil war ensues and ends with the kingdom divided in two. A number of years later, a Spanish conquistador named Cortés arrives in the area and one brother sends him an offer: I’ll help you if you help me. With the Spaniard’s assistance, the one brother is deposed, while the other not only takes the throne but fights...

Designing the Future

As changes in technology, population, climate, the economy, the organization of knowledge, and other systems gather speed, the need to predict and even to design the future accelerates as does the need to re-envision STEM as STEAM (sciences, technology, engineering, arts-humanities, and medicine). Through 2013-2014, a series of "futurists"—from the arts...
Just Strike by Josh MacPhee

Exuberant Politics: Fall 2013

Exuberant Politics is a yearlong programming initiative examining recent intersections of art and activism around the world. Organized by Exubernaut Collective, a group of faculty, graduate students, and community members, the series enjoys sponsorship from across community and campus, including the Obermann Center.Where have we experienced exuberance in protest and affinity? Grassroots political...

Obermann Afternoons Kicks Off with Talk on Intergenre Crossing

Building on the Obermann Center’s tradition of nurturing interdisciplinary scholarship, the Intergenre Explorations Working Group has brought together faculty engaged in intergenre work. Rather than (or in addition to) crossing disciplines, intergenre work crosses from one mode of research or presentation to another. Synthesizing scholarly and creative modalities, these crossings entail palpable...

Obermann Director Named to National Humanities Alliance Board of Directors

The Obermann Center is pleased to announce that Director Teresa Mangum has been invited to serve on the Board of Directors of the National Humanities Alliance. For over 30 years, the NHA has been the nation’s leading public policy and advocacy organization for the academic and public humanities. This non-partisan advocacy coalition works to advance humanities education and research, preserve...

Teaching the Latino Midwest

The culture and history of Latinos in the Midwest is an increasingly significant topic for college courses in Latino/a Studies. Numbers alone indicate that this regional emphasis is critical. Between 2000 and 2010, the Latino population increased by 44% across the country and by more than 73% in many Midwestern states. Yet, there is no teachable anthology for undergraduate classes.Claire Fox...
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Recent Events

The University of Iowa Lecture Committee presents: Hill Harper promotional image

The University of Iowa Lecture Committee presents: Hill Harper

Wednesday, February 25, 2026 6:00pm to 7:00pm
Iowa Memorial Union (IMU)
Harper was born in Iowa City, IA, the son of two doctors – his father, a psychiatrist and his mother, an anesthesiologist. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and was named Valedictorian of his department. Harper then graduated with a J.D. (cum laude) from Harvard Law School, as well as with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, with honors, from the Kennedy School of Government. He holds honorary doctoral degrees from Howard University, Winston-Salem State University, Cheyney University, Le-Moyne Owen College, Westfield State College, Dillard University and Tougaloo College.
Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor Hill Harper speaking on his experience in TV, Film, and Theatre promotional image

Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor Hill Harper speaking on his experience in TV, Film, and Theatre

Wednesday, February 25, 2026 10:00am to 11:30am
Theatre Building
Hill Harper visits the UI Department of Theatre Arts, speaking on His Experience in TV, Film and Theatre, moderated by Theatre Assistant Professor Caroline Clay
Planning and Writing Successful Grant Proposals in the Creative Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities Seminar promotional image

Planning and Writing Successful Grant Proposals in the Creative Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities Seminar

Wednesday, February 25, 2026 8:30am to 4:30pm
Iowa Memorial Union (IMU)

This seminar will cover fundamental concepts of proposal planning and writing for the Arts and Humanities faculty backed by concrete tips and operational strategies that support planning and longer-term sustainability.

Planning and Writing Successful Grant Proposals in the Creative Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities Seminar

The Research Development Office is hosting an in person grant writing seminar, Planning and Writing Successful Grant Proposals in the Creative Arts, Social Sciences, and...

"The Battle for the Black Mind": Lecture by Karida Brown, Emory University promotional image

"The Battle for the Black Mind": Lecture by Karida Brown, Emory University

Friday, February 20, 2026 12:00pm
Adler Journalism and Mass Communication Building

Dr. Karida Brown is an NAACP Image Award-winning author, sociologist, and public intellectual. A professor at Emory University, Dr. Brown is a leading scholar of systemic racism and the study of Black life. Her work, which spans over a decade of groundbreaking research and analysis, has earned her both national and international acclaim. She is the author of six books, most recently The Battle for the Black Mind by Legacy Lit.

Hosted by the Race Workshop Obermann Working Group; co-sponsored by...

Spring Application Deadline: Book Ends Book Completion Workshop promotional image

Spring Application Deadline: Book Ends Book Completion Workshop

Tuesday, February 17, 2026 5:00pm
111 Church Street

Book Ends—Obermann Book Completion Workshop supports University of Iowa faculty from disciplines in which publishing a monograph is required for tenure and promotion. The award is designed to assist faculty members in turning promising manuscripts into important, field-changing, published books.

Book Ends Information Session (virtual) promotional image

Book Ends Information Session (virtual)

Tuesday, February 3, 2026 8:30am to 9:00am
Virtual

Book Ends supports University of Iowa faculty from disciplines in which publishing a monograph is required for tenure and promotion. The award is designed to assist faculty members in turning promising manuscripts into important, field-changing, published books. Read more about the program.

Interested applicants are invited to learn more about the program and application process at a virtual information session on Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 8:30 a.m. Obermann Center Director Luis Martín-Estudillo will...