OCE CONNECT

December 2023

With the close of the Fall semester, we celebrate the faculty, staff, students, and community partners who have contributed thousands of hours of work to campus-community partnerships over the past several months. These partnerships elevate our teaching, learning, and research at Iowa while contributing to meaningful change in our communities.

We extend particular gratitude to the hundreds of students who are working in communities through Community-Engaged Courses (CECs) and community-engaged research, translating their talents, expertise, and creativity into substantive projects that impact communities across Iowa and beyond. As we look ahead to the Spring '24 semester, there will be expanded opportunities for community-engaged students through a record number of Spring semester CEC courses and new opportunities for graduate students to gain skills and professional development through the Graduate Engagement Corps (GEC).

We continue to be grateful for your partnership and support and wish you the very best this holiday season.

In partnership,

Nick Benson

Executive Director

Student Engagement Updates

Spring '24 Community-Engaged Courses Announced

There are a record number of Community-Engaged Courses being offered during the Spring '24 session, providing more opportunities for students to participate in valuable experiential learning next semester.

From Inequality in American Sport

to Serving Learning - International Studies, students have a broad array of choices to engage with communities here in Iowa and beyond.

To see a complete list of the CECs on the horizon, visit https://engagement.uiowa.edu/community-engaged-courses.

2024 Graduate Engagement Corps Begins in January

We are thrilled to announce the new cohort of students in the Graduate Engagement Corps for 2024. Spanning 16 different departments across the university, ranging from Planning and Public Affairs to Anthropology to Civil and Environmental Engineering, this year's cohort is filled with talented, motivated students seeking to make a different in their research, teaching and communities.

The GEC 2024 will kick off January 8th - 10th with a 3-day Orientation, including workshops, panel presentations and community partner visits.

For more information on the GEC, visit https://engagement.uiowa.edu/GEC.

Engagement and the Arts

Arts Share

Musical Theatre Ambassadors

Musical Theatre Ambassadors will present a Winter Holiday Concert at the Wieting Theatre in Toledo, Iowa, sponsored by Arts Share.

They will be performing songs that celebrate warm fellowship during the frosty holidays.

The mission of the University of Iowa Musical Theatre Ambassadors is to spread the joy of musical theater and song and create more performance opportunities for University of Iowa Musical Theatre students, to bolster enthusiasm for the arts on campus and in the Iowa City Community.

See more at https://wieting.tamatoledo.com/.

Grant Wood Art Colony

The Grant Wood Art Colony of the Office of Community Engagement is offering a new course for undergraduate- and graduate-level students. Ali Hval will teach students how to “Become a Public Artist” January 8-12, 2024, through guest speakers, real-world examples, and Hval’s personal experiences.

This intensive workshop focuses on the practical and conceptual needs of becoming a public artist. Topics include proposals and applications, contracts and ownership, site preparation, materials, equipment use, design mockups, and community involvement.

Upper-level undergraduate students and MFA candidates can enroll in Become a Public Artist class: CSI:1214:0001 (for the Winter 2024 session).

Save the Date

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Nick Benson in advance at 319-384-3464.

Upcoming Dates