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.”
Stephanie Miracle is a choreographer and performer whose projects regularly bring together artists, engineers, scientists, and scholars to stage choreographies, public space interventions, dance films, community centered performance, digital installations, and sound walks. For the multimedia, site-specific performance Meandering River, which she co-directed with Eric Gidal (English, CLAS), dancers, musicians, and environmental researchers reimagined the Iowa River as a shared, living system—something to move through, listen to, and think with. In Since we have come this far, how do we get back?, Miracle worked with director of the UI Robotics and Assistive Devices Lab Deema Totah (Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering) to build eight robots and choreograph an “aesthetic dialogue” in which the small machines interacted with ten dancers. Miracle's work, whether onstage, outdoors, or through film and sound, continually asks: How do bodies (human and non-) connect with the world through movement?
"I am deeply honored to be receiving the inaugural Obermann Interdisciplinary Achievement Award, especially given the exceptional work of my colleagues I see happening across campus. Interdisciplinary collaboration has challenged and nourished my practice as an artist, an educator, and as a citizen in the world. The privilege of working with a wide array of scholars and in many different environments has enhanced my understanding of reciprocity and connectivity and inspires me to continue taking actions that build community across disciplines."
—Stephanie Miracle
Miracle’s collaborators talk as much about the creative process as the final product. “[Stephanie] bridges disciplines with rigor and imagination,” says Totah. “She fosters meaningful intellectual collaboration and produces scholarship and creative work that resonates across society.” Miracle will receive $2,000 and will present at Obermann’s annual Counterpoint event on October 13, 2026 (location TBD), where she will discuss her work in a public dialogue.
