Convos from the UI Events Calendar
Imagining Community in 2030: An Obermann Conversation
Monday, February 19, 2024 4:00pm to 5:00pm
What will our community be like in 2030? How are local nonprofits shaping the Iowa City area, and what are their visions for the future? How can we break down the silos of “city” and “neighborhood” to create a better and more unified place for everyone? In this Obermann Conversation, UI faculty and local nonprofit leaders will discuss how we can harness the collective impact model to create a more equitable community. The collective impact model is a community-building strategy involving a...
Labor Strikes — An Obermann Conversation
Tuesday, November 28, 2023 4:00pm to 5:00pm
This summer, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) both went on strike, something that hadn’t happened since 1960. These strikes brought Hollywood to a standstill for months and ultimately forced the studios to make major concessions. In September, the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union went on strike against the major automakers GM, Ford, and Stellantis. For the first time ever, a sitting president...
Scrutinizing the Shelves: Banned Books — An Obermann Conversation
Thursday, October 5, 2023 4:00pm to 5:30pm
Recently, there has been an escalation of book bans and censorship in public school classrooms and libraries across the U.S. Many of the current book ban campaigns target books by or about LGBTQIA+ persons and people of color. In this Obermann Conversation, an outreach librarian, two scholars of education, and the director of a local cultural institution will discuss the history of book bans in the Midwest as well as nationally, and look forward to a future with access to books for all...
Women’s Basketball in Iowa: From 6-on-6 to NCAA — An Obermann Conversation
Tuesday, September 12, 2023 4:00pm to 5:30pm
The recent success of the University of Iowa’s women’s basketball team generated excitement and interest in women’s sports across the community. Before there was NCAA women’s basketball, there was 6-on-6 girls basketball, a form of the sport that the state of Iowa remained committed to until 1993. This Obermann Conversation with University of Iowa faculty, basketball coach, and former players, will contextualize the past, discuss the present, and look forward to the future of women’s basketball...
A Crisis of Care: Iowa's Childcare Predicament
Wednesday, November 16, 2022 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Quality childcare is an elemental need. It allows parents to work at paid jobs, which in turn helps to support the economic well-being of our communities. Equally as crucial, it provides early childhood development for the next generation.
Anyone who has tried to find quality childcare, however, knows that it is not easy to find—or very affordable. In the past five years, Iowa has lost more than a third of its childcare providers, and the cost of child care amounts to 15.3% of the average Iowa...
Revising Injustice: Emphatically Anti-racist Comics
Wednesday, October 12, 2022 7:00pm to 8:00pm
This event has been canceled.
Canceled
The Impact of Schools on Mental Health: An Obermann Conversation
Wednesday, September 21, 2022 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Schools play a crucial role in young people's mental health, something that became extremely clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the CDC, in 2021, 37% of high school students reported they experienced poor mental health, and 44% reported they persistently felt sad or hopeless during the past year. Schools provide connectedness to mentors, friends, and services. At the same time, they can also be sites of difficulty in the form of bullying or stress from learning obstacles.
In this...
Invisible Neighbors: Latinx Immigrants in Eastern Iowa — An Obermann Conversation
Tuesday, April 5, 2022 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Every week, new arrivals come to our area from Mexico and Central America. Many come with few possessions and only the thinnest personal network. These largely invisible newcomers to our community have immediate needs, some of which are being addressed by organizations like Open Heartland and UI-sponsored legal and medical clinics. We’ll hear more about our Latinx immigrant neighbors, their needs, and the work currently happening to assist their arrival.
Speakers:
Deb Dunkhase is the founder...
Igniting Change One Wall at a Time — An Obermann Conversation
Thursday, March 3, 2022 7:00pm to 8:00pm
When two large figures took shape on Burlington Street in Iowa City last summer, passersby had to contend with messages that went beyond the colorful, playful images of other downtown murals. "Weaponize your privilege" reads one of the so-called Oracles of Iowa City. The twin images are part of a long history of public art that challenges viewers and pushes for change, while asking who the "public" is in public art. Hear from artists and scholars involved in this project and other large-scale...
Ukraine and Russia: Deciphering the Current Situation — An Obermann Conversation
Wednesday, February 16, 2022 5:00pm to 6:00pm
As the news cycle continues to focus on tensions at the Ukraine-Russia border, we've reached out to three people who know the region well to help us better understand current events and what has led to this situation. In this pop-up Obermann Conversation, we'll hear from:
Daria Kuznetsova — A PhD student in Political Science and a native of Ukraine, Kuznetsova studies democratic transitions and the survival of democracies. For her Masters in Community and Regional Planning from ISU, she focused...
Reproductive Justice: An Obermann Conversation
Wednesday, February 2, 2022 7:00pm to 8:00pm
In the fight surrounding Roe v. Wade, it's easy to lose sight of the many other ways that access to reproductive healthcare can be limited or denied. Two Obermann scholars, Lina-Maria Murillo and Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz, talk with local healthcare providers and researchers to provide a fuller landscape of reproductive justice in the Midwest.
Featured speakers:
Lastascia Coleman, nurse-midwife, UIHC
Nicole Novak, research faculty, College of Public Health
Meagan Thompson, nurse-midwife, UIHC...
Economic Development as Social Justice — An Obermann Conversation
Thursday, December 2, 2021 7:00pm to 8:00pm
This summer, a new Story Map of Black-owned businesses in Johnson County was created. It connects users to a rich and ever-growing directory of businesses and entrepreneurs in the eastern Iowa corridor and challenges us to understand the connection between economic opportunities and social justice. Our speakers will help us understand historic barriers faced by BIPOC people interested in starting a business, and why tearing down these barriers matters to all of us.
Speakers:
Daria Fisher...
Why Anne Frank Still Matters—An Obermann Conversation
Monday, October 18, 2021 5:00pm to 6:00pm
For several generations, Anne Frank has been a household name—the WWII diarist whose posthumously published book has been translated into more than 70 languages. But do younger generations know her story? When they encounter her, what resonates with them?
In this conversation, we'll consider Anne's legacy and the ways her experience as a refugee, a person in hiding, an advocate for human rights, and a joyful creative spirit can speak to new generations.
Speakers will include:
Kirsten Kumpf...
Trans Health & Medical Care: Where We Are, Where We Came From: A (Virtual) Obermann Conversation
Wednesday, September 22, 2021 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Surfacing in the mid-twentieth century, yet shrouded in social stigma, transgender medicine is now a rapidly growing medical field. UI alumna and Michigan State University professor stef shuster shares findings from their new book, Trans Medicine (NYU Press, 2021) in discussion with Dr. Katie Imborek, co-founder of UIHC's LGBTQ Clinic, and community archivist and PhD candidate Aiden Bettine, whose work creates and demands gender-affirming community spaces.
Neighborhood NESTS: Building community-education partnerships — An Obermann Conversation
Wednesday, April 7, 2021 7:00pm to 8:00pm
As it became clear last summer that the 2019-20 school year would include various kinds of online learning and other interruptions to schooling as usual, a group of community leaders joined forces to create a program to support K12 students. NESTS—Nurture Every Student Together Safely—was intended to address gaps in the Iowa City School District's Return to Learn. Less than a year later, there are seven NESTS in Johnson County—including at Dream City and Open Heartland—supporting more than a...
Native Lands: Belonging and Reclaiming — An Obermann Conversation
Wednesday, March 10, 2021 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Shelley Buffalo and Carrie Schuettpelz share their experiences as indigenous women who have thought hard about issues of belonging. Together, they'll consider what it means to belong to a Native American tribe, in terms of relationship to the land, the notorious blood quantum system for "measuring" someone's right to membership, and Indian cards. As people who have traveled far from home, living across the U.S. and abroad, they'll wonder together about how far and how long one can wander from...
COVID's Lessons: End of Life and Grief - An Obermann Conversation
Tuesday, February 16, 2021 7:00pm to 8:00pm
The past year has made the end of life and grief a daily communal event, as we receive numbers from the headlines and news from friends and family. In the West, death and grief have often been private acts, but COVID-19, along with the twin pandemic of racism and its inherent grief, has altered how we tend to these universal aspects of human experience. In this conversation, we'll hear from a palliative care physician, a hospice nurse, and a scholar regarding lessons from this past year. ...
Food Insecurity in Johnson County: An Obermann Conversation
Thursday, January 14, 2021 7:00pm
As of five years ago, about 14% of Johnson County residents were considered food insecure, meaning that they had limited or uncertain access to certain and nutritious food. After nearly a year of COVID-19 affecting employment and housing, those numbers are much greater. In this conversation, Obermann Center Teresa Mangum will talk with panelists about how food insecurity is experienced by UI students, children and families in our local schools, and others who are grappling with this urgent issue...
Out in the Field: Finding Wonder under the Water, in the Ground, and on the Waves — An Obermann Conversation
Monday, November 16, 2020 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Join us for another virtual Obermann Conversation!
Three researchers whose work takes them into the field reflect on the experience of being far removed from screens, phones, and what many of us associate with everyday work. George Peterson, the Director of Dive Programs at the Monterey Bay Sea Aquarium, shares his love of scuba and the discoveries he makes under the world's oceans as a way to provoke wonder in others and spur them toward conservation. Cynthia Chou, UI professor of Anthropology...
Little Resurrections: Laboring to Find Wonder in Our Work — An Obermann Conversation
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Join a minister, a dancer, and a religious anthropologist for a conversation about social justice, the body's awe-inspiring movement, and the tension between the mundane and profound qualities of 21st-century labor.
The past few months have shone an intense light on the demands of different forms of work. Americans are picking lettuce in the midst of nearby forest fires, chasing kindergartners while on Zoom work calls, and caring for COVID patients. Workers deemed "essential" are treated as...
ICE Enforcement: Impacts on Community Health and Well-Being — An Obermann Conversation
Tuesday, February 4, 2020 4:00pm to 5:00pm
With attention drawn to events at the border, it can be easy to overlook the population of immigrants who live in fear of being deported or having family members deported. The effects of raids and other maneuvers by Immigration and Customs Enforcement have deep impact on the overall health and well-being of Latino/a/x communities here in Iowa and across the country. The possibility of raids and deportation cause anxiety and depression, which affect the workplace and schools, as well as the...
Obermann Conversations Program: Domestic Stories
Thursday, November 14, 2019 4:00pm to 5:00pm
How have relationships between domestic workers and employees changed over time, including around issues of race and gender? What are issues of pay injustice that have been true in the past and how are workers addressing such issues today? This Obermann Conversation includes a historian, a feminist podcaster, and a labor expert.
Catherine Stewart, a history professor from Cornell College and an Obermann Fellow-in-Residence, is working on a book, The New Maid: African American Women and Domestic...
Conversation: A Vital Tool for Mending Our Democracy
Wednesday, October 23, 2019 4:00pm to 5:00pm
Many of us long for complex conversations with a greater range of people, and yet we aren't entirely sure how to access such conversations. In this Obermann Conversation, we convene three people -- Lore Baur, Ben Hassman, and Sherry Watt -- who actively organize and facilitate conversations that might be perceived as difficult. Each of them will share some of the skills involved in holding a mutually respectful and beneficial conversation, as well as some of the power that this relatively simple...
Not So Straight & Narrow: Managing Our Rural & Urban Waterways—An Obermann Conversation
Thursday, September 12, 2019 4:00pm to 5:00pm
Craig Just, water quality expert and UI professor of civil & environmental engineering, and Rai Tokuhisa, Water Resource Engineer Intern with RDG Planning & Design—which was involved with the waterway project that runs behind Iowa City's Big Grove Brewery & Taproom—will lead a walking conversation about restorative watershed management. Craig and Rai have been involved in both rural and urban projects and will speak to this site specifically, as well as Craig's two new EPA grant projects.
This...
Scoring the Screen: The Power of Music in Film
Wednesday, April 17, 2019 4:00pm
How do composers, producers, and directors use music in film? How does it help to tell stories, complicate plots, create atmosphere, and manipulate audiences' emotional responses? How is it selected, scored, and recorded? Join Kaitlyn Busbee (independent filmmaker), Corey Creekmur (Professor of Cinematic Arts), Rebecca Fons (Programming Director at FilmScene), and Nathan Platte (Professor of Music) as they discuss the role—and the power—of music in film.
Kaitlyn Busbee is an independent...
Local Disabilities Initiatives: An Obermann Conversation
Wednesday, March 27, 2019 4:00pm to 5:00pm
In this Obermann Conversation, we’ll hear from activists representing various organizations about current projects that support, amplify, and advocate for people with disabilities. Tammy Nyden gives an overview of the work of the Johnson County Children’s Colation, a project of our local NAMI; Michael Hoenig shares the disability training offered to UI health sciences students; Andrew Tubbs describes the work of Combined Efforts’ multi-arts projects; Sujit Singh will talk about a local...
Multiple Pathways to Recovery: A Conversation about Addiction Research and Treatment Services
Wednesday, February 13, 2019 4:00pm to 5:00pm
In this Obermann Conversation, three researchers and practitioners will discuss alternative forms of treating alcohol and drug addictions, including effectiveness for various populations.
Paul Gilbert conducts research to understand and address alcohol-related disparities. He is particularly interested in the ways that gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation shape drinking patterns, risk of alcohol use disorders, and use of treatment services. His current projects include an NIH-funded...
The US / Mexico Border in Context
Thursday, December 6, 2018 4:00pm
Several scholars will help us put current events at the U.S. / Mexico border into perspective.
Lina-Maria Murillo (History and GWSS) received her doctorate in Borderlands History at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 2016. Currently, she is completing her manuscript titled From Population Control to Reproductive Freedom: Contraception and Race in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands.
Rene Rocha (Political Science) focuses on policy analysis, including questions such as: How does immigration...
Gerrymandering, Voter Registration, and Access to the Ballot—An Obermann Conversation
Thursday, October 25, 2018 4:00pm to 5:00pm
How is voting restricted in our country in lawful ways? For this Obermann Conversation, political scientist Tracy Osborn, grassroots organizer Sharon Lake and legal advisor Andrew Bribriesco will discuss issues ranging from gerrymandering, Iowa's voter registration law, voter identification, and lack of voting rights for felons.
Tracy Osborn is an associate professor in the UI Department of Political Science and the director of the Politics and Policy Program at the Iowa Public Policy Center...
Exploring Women in Sports and Title IX's Legacy—An Obermann Conversation
Tuesday, September 25, 2018 4:00pm to 5:00pm
Our first Obermann Conversation of the semester features Diane Williams (M.S., M.A.Ed., and doctoral candidate in American Studies and GWSS) and Megan Oesting, head coach of the Eastern Iowa Swim Federation and the Eastern Iowa Swim School.
Diane and Megan, both lifelong athletes and coaches, will provide a primer on Title IX, why it was created and how it’s been used (or not used) since its inception; review the experiences of female coaches; and discuss how having a female coach affects...
Latina/o/x Studies Today — An Obermann Conversation
Friday, July 20, 2018 3:00pm to 4:00pm
Theorists Vargas, Mirabal, and La Fountain-Stokes (2017) describe Latina/o/x Studies as “an amalgamation of multiple disciplines, theories, and methods” that “has generated an expansive, innovative, and ever-evolving framework to understand the experiences of persons of Latin American and Caribbean descent in the United States as well as broader sociohistorical, political, and cultural processes.” The speakers below, all of whom are in town participating in the weeklong Iowa Workshop in Latina/o...
From previous years (is this even necessary?)
To view descriptions of conversations prior to December 2018, please visit the archived version of our website.
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Nov 7, 2018 - Photographing the Latina/o Experience in Iowa - Social Activism, Research, and Policy
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Apr 26, 2018 - Controlling Research—Gun Control, Public Health, and Restraints on Research
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Apr 19, 2018 - Global Citizenship
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Mar 6, 2018 - So Long, Cursive!
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Feb 6, 2018 - Unraveling & Mending: Art as Political Witness
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Dec 4, 2017 - #Hashtag Activism: Fast. Fierce. Effective?
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Nov 14, 2017 - Collective Action
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Oct 18, 2017 - Algorithms: The Personal Is Political
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Oct 4, 2017 - Maria in Context: Puerto Rico, Colonialism, and the U.S. Response
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Sep 19, 2017 - Your Brain on Trees
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Apr 20, 2017 - The Making of "Hot Tamale Louie"
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Mar 22, 2017 - Johnson Co. Historic Poor Farm: New Collaborations AND Screening of Graduate Institute Film
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Feb 15, 2017 - Aging in Place: Keeping Older Johnson County Residents in Our Neighborhoods
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Dec 8, 2016 - Becoming Less Alone: Changing the Conversation about Mental Health
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Nov 8, 2016 - Water, Prairies, and Climate Change: Iowa’s Environment in Historical Perspective
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Oct 19, 2016 - Singing as Transformational Practice: From Hospice to Prisons
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April 6, 2016 - Doing global history locally: German Iowa and the Global Midwest
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March 9, 2016 - Creativity for a Lifetime
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February 16, 2016 - How Housing Impacts the Health of a Community
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December 13, 2015 - Wild Sex: Animal Sex and Human Confusion
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November 16, 2015 - The Costs of Success: Rap Music, Money, & Civics
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September 29, 2015 - Participant-Consumers in the Marketplace of Ideas