Events & Deadlines
The following events are either sponsored or co-sponsored by the Obermann Center or highlight work close to that of our mission.
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This issue:
Events & Deadlines
Jeannette Gabriel Delivers Women's History Month Lecture
Dellyssa Edinboro and the Oracles Mural
Reading Anne Frank Together
Welcoming Sawyer Seminar Fellows
News & Accomplishments
Next-Generation Dissertations Event
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Jeannette Gabriel to Discuss History of Iowa's Jewish Communities |
Gabriel is a researcher, teacher, and curator with strong ties to Iowa. As a graduate assistant at the UI Libraries’ Iowa Women’s Archives from 2016–2019, she started the Jewish Women in Iowa Project, collecting materials from and building relationships with Jewish families across the Midwest. She’s had a fascinating career path, even before she entered the Social Studies Education PhD program at the University of Iowa. We recently spoke with Dr. Gabriel about her community engagement work and upcoming lecture.
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Weaponizing Humanities Research: Dellyssa Edinboro and the Oracles Murals
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In 2017, as a College of Education PhD student, Dellyssa Edinboro participated in the Obermann Graduate Institute on Engagement and the Academy. When she worked to get a public event produced via a partnership gained in the Institute, she got her first taste of how complex publicly facing projects can become. Three years later, as a Humanities for the Public Good intern with the Center for Afrofuturist Studies, she quickly became a central team member in the boldest public art project in recent local history, The Oracles of Iowa City, the twinned murals on the side of the Burlington Street parking garage.
When the team encountered hesitation from funders over the proposed murals, especially the use of the word "weaponized," Edinboro researched the history of the word and helped to create public surveys about the use of public art. She shared the process with us and put it in the context of her research on African American artists and scholars whose creative decisions were often controlled by white gatekeepers. Edinboro is a panelist for the Obermann Conversation, "Igniting Change One Wall at a Time," on March 3.
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Reading Anne Frank Together |
"…if I live here much longer, I’ll turn into a dried-up old beanstalk. And all I really want is to be an honest-to-goodness teenager!” How many of us felt a similar sentiment during the quarantine stage of the pandemic? The words come from Anne Frank, who is wittier and more eloquent than you may recall.
As we await the arrival of the Anne Frank Tree, which will be planted on the University of Iowa Pentacrest on April 29, 2022, we encourage people of all ages to read the book that is at the heart of this event. Better yet—read it in community! In conjunction with the Iowa City Public Library, we are offering three in-person discussions to provide context to the Diary around issues of space, journal-keeping, and Judaism.
Pick up a copy of Anne Frank’s celebrated diary and discuss it with classmates, neighbors, family, and colleagues. If you need a copy of the Diary, Prairie Lights Bookstore (15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City) has many available for purchase.
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Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-funded Obermann Sawyer Seminar Graduate Fellows Awarded |
Nicole Amato (Literacy, Language, & Culture and GWSS) and Matthew Griffin (Communication Studies) have been named Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-funded Obermann Sawyer Seminar Graduate Fellows for the 2022-23 Sawyer Seminar "Racial Reckoning and Social Justice through Comics." These graduate dissertation fellowships provide funding for the students' research and include participation in the Seminar, which is co-led by Corey Creekmur (Cinematic Arts, GWSS, and English), Ana Merino (Spanish & Portuguese), and Rachel M. Williams (GWSS and Art & Art History).
Amato will research how to best prepare teacher educators to read and engage with anti-racist and anti-oppressive comics in their future classrooms. Griffin's focus is on the convergence of fan and audience discourse, the culture wars, and Marvel’s media output
There is currently a national search for a Postdoctoral Scholar to work with the team.
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Elke Heckner (Working Groups) was interviewed on Talk of Iowa in an episode titled "How Literature Can Teach Young Readers to Build Empathy and Resilience."
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Catherine Stewart (Fellow '19) published an article, "Household Accounts: Black Domestic Workers in Southern White Spaces during the Great Depression" in the Journal of American History.
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Kristine Muñoz ('15 Fellow) and co-director Daena Goldsmith won an NEH Humanities Initiatives grant for their project, "Salud, to your Health! Resources for Teaching Health Narratives in English and Spanish."
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Michaela Hoenicke-Moore ('20 Fellow) was awarded an NEH fellowship to complete her book, The Varieties of American Patriotism.
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Susan Lutgendorf ('02 IDRG) and Ed Wasserman ('05 Fellow) were named American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows.
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Raquel Wood (Graduate Institute) accepted a new job at Amherst College as Assistant Director of Workforce Equity & Inclusive Leadership.
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Tara Bynum (Book Ends) received a fellowship from the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania for 2022-23.
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Next-Generation Dissertations—New Projects for an Engaged Academy
March 7, 2022, 1:00-2:30 p.m.
This spring, the Mellon Humanities for the Public Good group is hosting conversations about new approaches to keystones of graduate education. Following sessions on introduction to graduate studies courses and humanities labs “seminars” (video coming soon), on March 7 at 1:00 p.m. CT you can hear from PhD graduates themselves how they reimagined the dissertation, translating the usual proto-monograph into comics, digital projects, film, a podcast, video games, and more. They and several of their advisors will share their challenges, process, and results.
This session is a collaboration with the Graduate College of Syracuse University and Katina Rogers (author of Putting the Humanities to Work) and a launch of their valuable new website, Next Generation Dissertations.
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