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
E Cram Book Launch
Spring '23 Obermann Humanities Symposium
Artist-Scholar Premiers Play This Week
Racial Reckoning and Social Justice through Comics Topic of 2022-23 Sawyer Seminar
New Approach to Obermann Humanities Symposium Program
Featured Video: Behind the Big House
Achievements & Recognition
Featured Video: Igniting Change One Wall at a Time
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The book deepens the analysis of settler colonialism's endurance in the North American West and how infrastructures that ground sexual modernity are both reproduced and challenged by publics who have inherited them.
In the event, Cram will read from the book. The reading will be followed by responses from Colin Johnson (Indiana University), author of Just Queer Folks: Gender and Sexuality in Rural America (Temple University Press, 2013) and Gabriel N. Rosenberg (Duke University), author of The 4-H Harvest: Sexuality and the State in Rural America (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015).
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SAVE THE DATE:
Obermann Humanities Symposium Focuses on
Afro-Brazilian Film
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After a two-year hiatus, the Obermann Humanities Symposium returns next academic year. On April 6, 7, and 8, 2023, "Contemporary Afro-Brazilian Cinema" will feature filmmakers, translators, and film scholars from the Afro-Brazilian diaspora. Organized by Christopher Harris (Cinematic Arts) with partnership from Cristiane Lira (University of Georgia) and Brazilian filmmaker Janaína Oliveira, the symposium will feature the emerging wave of young Afro-Brazilian filmmakers, curators, programmers, and scholars whose art and scholarship have already had an impact on the international cinema.
Panel discussions and keynotes will take place at the Stanley Museum of Art, and some screenings will be at Iowa City FilmScene. Harris says the events "are aimed at the generation of new knowledge regarding the central question of how Black identity is figured in the new Afro-Brazilian cinema and how that resonates with Black cinema globally."
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MFA Playwright Explores Holocaust Memorialization |
As part of its support for the Anne Frank Tree Planting Ceremony, the Obermann Center provided funding to Emma Silverman, an MFA candidate in the UI Playwrights Workshop, toward completion of her thesis play. Silverman performed an excerpt from Stars and Stones at the Tree Planting Ceremony last week, and the play will be staged in its entirety this Thursday, May 5, 2022, as part of the UI's New Play Festival.
The recipient of a Marcus Bach Fellowship from CLAS, Silverman intended to use the award toward direct research of Holocaust tourism.
Although the pandemic curtailed some of her plans, she was able to visit Poland in October 2021. "I visited museums, former Jewish Quarters, synagogues, and the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex," she says. "Traveling alone by train through Poland as a Jewish woman was a transformative experience. I left Poland with a pile of research, a detailed journal, and a slew of questions about Jewish identity, American anti-Semitism, and the most—and least—effective forms of remembrance."
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New Approach to Obermann Humanities Symposium
Application Deadline:
October 26, 2022
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The last two years have taught us both painful and promising lessons. We’ve learned that the ability to respond to enduring and emerging issues quickly, flexibly, and nimbly can be invaluable. We’ve reaffirmed our commitment to inclusive practices, the embrace of diverse voices, and the intention to keep equitable design at the center of our planning and programs. We’ve recognized that our colleagues from the arts brilliantly invigorate other disciplines when we work in collaboration.
As a result, we’re reimagining our longtime Humanities Symposium as an Arts and Humanities Symposium. We want to lighten the planning and organizational work for symposia directors so that they can focus on the inspiring work of connecting with one another, sharing scholarly and creative discoveries, and experimenting with creative, interactive approaches to artistic and humanistic research. We hope that streamlined planning will open space for imaginative cross-disciplinary symposia where the humanities can deeply connect with the arts, design, politics, the health sciences, environmental studies, technology, and more. Applications for the 2023-24 Arts and Humanities Symposium are due in October 2022.
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Achievements & Recognition |
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Diane Williams (Graduate Institute) was featured on the podcast Making Moves, discussing gender equity in sport and the importance of celebrating the success of Title IX.
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Ana Rodríguez-Rodríguez (Fellow-in-Residence, Advisory Board, Humanities Symposium) has been named President of the UI Faculty Senate.
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Rachel Marie Crane Williams (Fellow-in-Residence; Humanities Symposium; Graduate Institute; IDRG; Advisory Board) has been named Dean of the Division of Liberal Arts at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
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H. Glenn Penny (Humanities Symposium, Advisory Board) has accepted a named chair position at the University of California Los Angeles.
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Lance Bennett (Graduate Institute) has been named Assistant Director of Assessment to Interim Associate Director of Assessment and Accreditation for the Office of the Provost at the University of Texas at Dallas.
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Hyaeweol Choi (Religious Studies), Paul Gilbert (Public Health), and Christopher Harris (Cinematic Studies) completed service on the Obermann Advisory Board. We are so grateful for your advice and leadership!
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SAVE THE DATE:
Racial Reckoning and Social Justice through Comics
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During the 2022-23 academic year, the Obermann Center will host its third Mellon Sawyer Seminar. "Racial Reckoning and Social Justice through Comics" is led by Corey Creekmur (Cinematic Studies, GWSS, and English), Ana Merino (Spanish & Portuguese), and Rachel Williams (University of North Carolina School of the Arts).
The trio are planning a series of interconnected events, featuring comics artists and scholars, designed to critically examine racial representation across global culture as both a residual legacy demanding unflinching reckoning as well as a contemporary cultural practice increasingly dedicated to depicting and advocating for social justice.
Look for dates and speakers in our September newsletter!
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Behind the Big House: Preserving & Interpreting the Material History of Slavery in the U.S. |
When residents and tourists visit sites of slavery, whose stories are told? All too often the lives of slaveowners are centered, obscuring the lives of enslaved people. Jodi Skipper’s new book, Behind the Big House, candidly documents Skipper's eight-year collaboration with a community-based program used at local historic sites to address slavery in the collective narrative of U.S. history and culture.
In this conversation from April 21, Skipper is joined by is joined by two national leaders in preserving the material traces of enslaved people and their descendants.
Speakers include:
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Jodi Skipper, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi
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Andrea Roberts, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Associate Director of the Center for Housing & Urban Development at Texas A&M University
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Jobie Hill, licensed preservation architect and founder of Saving Slave Houses
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Igniting Change One Wall at a Time: An Obermann Conversation |
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." In this Obermann Conversation from March 3, artists and scholars involved in this and other large-scale, community-based projects speak about their work.
Panelists:
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Thomas Agran, former director of public art, the Downtown District
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Dellyssa Edinboro, Bellevue College; Oracles lead researcher
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Traci Molloy, independent artist, collaborator, social activist
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Jill Wells, artist and activist; Oracles lead painter
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