News from Obermann Center for Advanced Studies

Early November 2020

Events

Nov. 12 - Abortion Care in America: A Conversation with Carole Joffe and Francine Thompson hosted by the Obermann Reproductive and Maternal Politics Working Group
Nov. 13 - Public Humanities Tomorrow panel: "Cultural Preservation and Storytelling - The Archaeology of Redress" (register on CHCI website)
Nov. 16 - Out in the Field: Finding Wonder under the Water, in the Ground, and on the Waves, an Obermann Conversation in collaboration with the IC Public Library
Nov. 30 - Book Talk with Rhondda Robinson Thomas, author of Call My Name, Clemson: Documenting the Black Experience in an American University Community
Dec. 9 - Obermann Around the Table featuring Chuy Renteria and Christine Shea
Dec. 15 - Peer-to-Peer Exchange of Pandemic Teaching Practices to Remember

From our friends at the Center for Teaching (register at https://teach.its.uiowa.edu/events/upcoming):

Nov. 13, 17, 20 - ICON Gradebook

Nov. 16, 19 - Getting Started with Zoom for the Classroom

From our friends at the UI Libraries:

Dec. 7 - Undergraduate Library Research Award application deadline

News & Achievements
Celebrating the work of current & past Obermann scholars and friends

Chloe Angyal (Obermann Public Scholar, 2019-21) published Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers is Saving Ballet from Itself (Bold Type Books, May 2021)
Shanna Greene Benjamin (Fellow-in-Residence, 2016) published Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay (University of North Carolina Press, April 2021).

An Exacting Ode to Iowa

Chuck Connerly's new book provides history and suggestions for a state he says is at a crossroads

In 1900, Iowa was the tenth largest state in the country. A hundred years later, it was the thirtieth largest and had experienced the biggest population decrease of any state. Today, Iowa is at a crossroads. Its population is more urban, less white, less well educated, and more environmentally challenged than its longtime reputation suggests. In a new book, Green, Fair, and Prosperous: Paths to a Sustainable Iowa (University of Iowa Press, 2020), director of the UI School of Planning and Public Affairs and former Obermann Fellow-in-Residence Charles Connerly provides a deeply researched history lesson on how we got here and suggests decisions we could make going forward.

READ ARTICLE

Pandemic Practices: Lessons Learned (and Worth Keeping)

Gathering tools and techniques from our months of online teaching, collaborating, and research

If necessity is the mother of invention, we've all become incredibly creative tinkerers, hackers, and technologists. Let's gather the best practices that have evolved from this challenging period and share them with each other. The Obermann Center is hosting a series of peer-to-peer conversations focused on teaching, collaboration, conference sessions, meeting formats, and other practices worth keeping, post-pandemic. Join us for the first exchange on Dec. 15 from 3:30-5:00 PM to discuss pedagogical practices. You'll hear from several students about their experiences learning online, and then several members of our Advisory Board will share the challenges and happy successes that have emerged in their classrooms. Please join us to share your discoveries and/or to learn from colleagues.

The event is free and open to all. We invite you to fill out this form to share an idea or two before the event (but submission is not required to attend).

UI Native American Council Publishes
Acknowledgement of Land and Sovereignty

Companion website includes definitions, lists of tribal nations and treaties

With sincere thanks to the University of Iowa's Native American Council, the Obermann Center has added our campus's new Acknowledgement of Land and Sovereignty Statement to our website. The Council explains: "A Land Acknowledgement is a formal statement that recognizes and respects Indigenous Peoples as traditional stewards of this land and the enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories. To recognize the land is an expression of gratitude and appreciation to those whose territory you reside on, and a way of honoring the Indigenous people who have been living and working on the land from time immemorial." In addition to sharing the statement in the About section of our website and providing a copy to future Obermann Center speakers and guests, we welcome opportunities to amplify Indigenous voices as we honor the thoughtful research and planning that went into this statement.

Humanities Without Walls

Upcoming grant opportunities for collaborations on campus, with academics elsewhere, and with community partners

The Obermann Center is a proud member of The Andrew W. Mellon-funded Humanities Without Walls (HWW) consortium of 16 research universities led by Antoinette Burton, director of the Humanities Research Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). In spring 2021, we will be offering summer seed grants to groups who would like to prepare grant applications for the $150,000 awards HWW will provide to collaborative teams working on "reciprocal and redistributive models for humanities research." Interested? We'll share details about the seed grants soon. In the meantime, these recorded UIUC info sessions offer prospective applicants excellent advice and inspiration:

Research Challenge General Info Session at the University of Illinois: With HWW PI Professor Antoinette Burton, Professor Jenny Davis, and HWW Director of Operations Jason Mierek
Collaborative, Reciprocal, and Redistributive Models of Research, Part I: With HWW PI Professor Antoinette Burton and Professor Jenny Davis
Collaborative, Reciprocal, and Redistributive Models of Research, Part II: With Professors Korinta Maldonado and Ruby Mendenhall