News from Obermann Center for Advanced Studies

ISSUE #20 | Spring 2022

Events & Deadlines

The following events are either sponsored or co-sponsored by the Obermann Center or highlight work close to that of our mission.

Mar. 8 - The Annex, Amsterdam, and Understanding the Space of the Diary - Part of Reading Anne Frank in Community

Mar. 9 - Anne Frank Exhibition Spotlight (part II)

Mar. 10 - Humanities and Public Life in the Age of COVID, featuring engaged artist-scholars from the UI Press Humanities & Public Life book series

Mar. 10 - Amplifying Women's Voices: A Faculty & Guest Artist Recital Featuring the Lanta Horn Duo

March 22 - Meskwaki Language Revitalization: Our Journey, a talk by Wayne Pushetonequa, director of the Meskwaki Language Preservation Department

Mar. 29 - What Do We Mean by Research Now? The Art(s) of Inquiry and Activism

Mar. 30 - Dear Kitty: The Act of Keeping a Diary - Part of Reading Anne Frank in Community

Mar. 31 - Eco Soma by Petra Kuppers: Reading and Book Release Party

April 1 - DEADLINE for proposals for the 2022 National Humanities Conference. The conference will be held November 10-13 in Los Angeles, in collaboration with California Humanities.

April 1 - Heritage Language Education: A Talk by Dr. Julio Torres, hosted by the Spanish Heritage Speakers in the Classroom Obermann Working Group

April 2 - Tasks in Action! A Workshop by Dr. Julio Torres, hosted by the Spanish Heritage Speakers in the Classroom Obermann Working Group

April 6 - Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Structures to Foster Engagement Beyond the Classroom , a workshop with Dominic Dongilli

April 8-9 - Iowa City Darwin Day: Science Fest Events

April 11 - Judaism in the Diary of Anne Frank: A Discussion - Part of Reading Anne Frank in Community

April 12 - APPLICATION DEADLINE for 2022-23 Obermann Working Groups

David Cassels Johnson: Language Policy in Schools

“Language policy," explains David Cassels Johnson, "is any policy that governs the structure, function, use, or education of language.” Johnson, Associate Professor in the Teaching and Learning department of the University of Iowa’s College of Education and a Spring 2022 Obermann Fellow-in-Residence, is interested in how language policies “affect educational opportunities for students who speak minoritized languages and dialects.”

This can occur via structures, such as the anti-bilingual education laws that were passed in multiple states in the 1990s and early '00s. Or it can occur via function, which alludes to the language we adopt for various places and situations and is less explicit than structure. An example of function is the way in which many language arts teachers correct the grammar of students who use nonstandard forms of English. Both macro and micro language policies have the ability to help transform schooling or to maintain the status quo.

We Hope You'll Join Us in Supporting the Research Mission of the UI

The mission of the Obermann Center is to provide programming and financial support to aid faculty research. We can do that even more generously and capaciously with your help. Starting now and culminating on March 30, we are seeking financial gifts to help us continue popular programs such as Obermann Working Groups and the Book Ends Book Completion Workshop.

We work to respond to the moment, featuring campus voices drawing on their research to respond to timely events, such as our recent Obermann Conversation about Ukraine, or last summer's workshops in Liberating Structures, a facilitation tool that has been adapted by many UI participants.

We know that "research" is misunderstood and even maligned outside the academy. We hope that you will join us in supporting the arts, scholarship, and research of University of Iowa faculty members. It seems more important than ever to recognize the invaluable role that teaching, learning, creativity, and discovery play in fostering an open, democratic society that honors multiple perspectives and embraces intellectual curiosity. Please give today.

GIVE NOW!

3/10 Roundtable: Humanities and Public Life in the Age of COVID

On Thursday, March 10 (4:00-5:30 p.m. CT), eight authors from the Humanities and Public Life book series—a collaboration between the Obermann Center and the University of Iowa Press—reflect on how their practices and approaches to public life have changed in the face of COVID's limitations and the demand for engaged scholars to re-examine how they work with public partners.

Co-editors Anne Valk and Teresa Mangum will lead a roundtable with author-scholars about how current issues are re-shaping their engaged practice—from “inflamed thinking” to isolation; from shock and grief to newly fierce commitments to social justice; from a desire to balance a newfound hunger to connect with the desire to work autonomously. Most of all, these public artists and scholars share a longing to gather and will reflect on ways to draw on painful lessons about the future of publicly engaged scholar-activism.

Working Group Spotlight: Spanish Heritage Speakers in the Classroom

This spring, we're featuring several of our more recently formed Obermann Working Groups to learn about their work. For this issue, we speak with Christine Shea (Spanish & Portuguese), who co-directs the Spanish Heritage Speakers in the Classroom Working Group with Becky Gonzalez (Spanish & Portuguese), and begin by asking what prompted the formation of their group:

CS: We wanted to pull together people in the Spanish and Portuguese program who work on issues related to Spanish heritage speakers from multiple perspectives and also provide a space to talk about what each of us is doing. We thought that an Obermann Working Group would be perfect for that purpose because it provides an umbrella of resources as well as an official name that we can draw upon for recognition. Basically, we wanted to create a space for those of us in the Department who have common interests in Spanish heritage speakers to interact and share ideas.

News & Accomplishments

Kathryn Heffner (Graduate Institute) won the 2022 Peter Nicholls Essay Prize from the Science Fiction Foundation for her essay on female fan cultures of the 1950s. The essay will be published in the spring issue of Foundations: The International Review of Science Fiction.
Gary Christensen ('05 Fellow) was named a member of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows.
Sarah Kyle ('18 Fellow) published a chapter, "The Representation of Plants: Mediators of Body and Soul" in A Cultural History of Plants (Bloomsbury, 2022).
Sherry Watt ('16-'18 Advisory Board) was honored by the Iowa Board of Regents for her "exceptional contributions and sustained record of excellence."
Eric Hirsch ('21 Fellow) published a new book, Acts of Growth: Development and the Politics of Abundance in Peru (Stanford UP).
We wish an absolutely joyful retirement to UI archivist David McCartney, who has helped our staff locate documents within Special Collections and archive Obermann materials. He also presented at our 2018 Against Amnesia Humanities Symposium, and served as an HPG internship mentor.