Dec. 26: Opening of Winter Session

Dec. 17-21: Fall Semester Finals Week

Dec. 4: UI European Studies Group, along with Anthropology and Classics, sponsored Yannis Hamilakis from the University of Southampton, who presented "Dreaming Ruins: Materiality, Archaeology, and National Imagination in Greece".

Oct. 10-Nov. 30: Women doctors were the focus of a traveling exhibition on display at the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences. "Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America's Women Physicians" told the extraordinary story of how American women who wanted to practice medicine have struggled over the past two centuries to gain access to medical education and to work in the medical specialty they chose.

Nov. 30: Russell Johnson (Iowa PhD, 1996 and currently Lecturer in History at the University of Otago, New Zealand) gave a talk on his current research, "The Flapper and the Cripple: Disability in Clara Bow's America, 1919-1933".

Nov. 29: David K. Johnson, Assistant Professor of History at The University of South Florida, presented a public lecture titled "The Lavender Scare: Homosexuality and National Politics from Joe McCarthy to Larry Craig".

Nov. 27: The History of Medicine Society presented Douglas Merrill, MD, Iowa Leading the Way: Dr. Ralph Waters and the First Ambulatory Surgery Center.”

Nov. 27: First of three 2007-08 UI Center for Human Rights (UICHR) Human Rights Reading Group sessions -- members of the UICHR Executive Board lead faculty and graduate students in discussions of readings addressing specific topics in human rights. Prof. Lisa Heineman facilitated a discussion of Lynn Hunt’s Inventing Human Rights: A History (W. W. Norton, 2007).

Nov. 27: Wine, Cheese & Gender meeting -- Professor Kim Marra (American Studies and Theatre Arts) discussed her book, Strange Duets: Impresarios and Actresses in the American Theatre, 1865-1914.

Nov. 19: Paid and Unpaid Labor in a Globally Connected Economy Symposium -- symposium looked at the dilemmas posed by an increasing number of jobs in the informal or under regulated sector of the economy (part-time, temporary, contract, and domestic services including child care, household cleaning, home repairs, and landscape services).  Speakers included Craig Becker, David Loebsack, Nancy Folbre, and Ruth Milkman.

Nov. 15: Joan Rubin, Professor of History at the University of Rochester and leading scholar of American book history, gave the Center for the Book’s Brownell lecture--"Poetry in Place and Practice: American Readers and the Uses of Verse". Professor Rubin reflected on her recent work Songs of Ourselves: The Uses of Poetry in America (Harvard University Press, 2007).

Nov. 12: As part of International Education Week 2007, UI International Programs and its African Studies Program sponsored a free screening of “Another Man’s Garden”, directed and written by João Luis Sol de Carvalho. The film was introduced by Prof. Nanette Barkey, Anthropology.

Oct. 30: Wine, Cheese & Gender meeting -- Lisa Heineman presented her research on "historicizing Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones", in particular, examining the translation of mass rape in the Balkan Wars of early 1990s into the test case for the prosecution of wartime sexual violence in international courts.

Oct. 29: Jay Semel, Associate Vice President for Research, met with DEOs and faculty to discuss NEH opportunities, Digital humanities and scholarly communication grants, and ways the University can help faculty to seek and acquire funding.

Oct. 29: The African Studies Program invited the UI community and the general public to the next in its Baraza lecture series. "The Special Court for Sierra Leone’s Trial of Charles Taylor" Presenter: Kimberly Lanegran, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science, Coe College.

Oct. 29: “Immigration from a Human Rights Perspective”-- the UI Center for Human Rights (UICHR) sponsored panel discussion on immigration in Iowa as part of a series taking place at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa. Panelists included Iowa State Senator Joe Bolkcom; Shelton Stromquist, professor of history; Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek; and recent UI alum Elisa Rojas C.

Oct. 26: Timothy B. Tyson , author of Blood Done Sign My Name, lead a writing workshop for history graduate students, sponsored by the History Department and GHS.  Those attending were asked to read sections of Radio Free Dixie and Blood Done Sign My Name, and bring a favorite opening paragraph of any book. Mr. Tyson also gave a public lecture as the 2007 UICHR's "One Community, One Book" program. Accompanying Tyson was gospel singer Mary Williams, who performed selections of hymns from the book. The performance was sponsored in part by the UI Lecture Committee.

Oct. 26: The Department of Anthropology 2007-2008 Colloquium Series presented Daniel Jaffee (Michigan State University): "Brewing Justice: Fair Trade Coffee, Sustainability and Survival."

Oct. 25: Staged reading of Elizabeth Robins’ 1907 play Votes for Women! -- The play, later developed into a novel The Convert, offers an insider’s view of the turn-of-the-century fight for women’s right to vote, including the struggles among women of different classes as they sought common ground.

Oct. 24-25: "From Bourgeois to Boojie: Black Middle Class Performances" Directed by Bridget Harris Tsemo and Vershawn Ashanti Young --- In recognition of the 50th Anniversary of E. Franklin Frazier’s controversial monograph Black Bourgeoisie: The Rise of a New Middle Class in the United States, this symposium was designed to bring together scholars and members of the public to discuss contemporary displays, notions and representations of black middle class performance within the humanities and American culture at large. For details and schedule of event >>

Oct. 23: History of Medicine series -- Dr. Edmund Franken, M.D. spoke on “Poisoning on the Prairie:  Abraham Lincoln, Nancy Hanks Lincoln and Milk Sickness.”

Oct. 17: Faculty Workshop -- Connie Berman presented her current work-in-progress.

Oct. 12: "The Writer and the World," took place in the Senate Chambers of Old Capitol. The panelists included Jim Leach, Dick Arndt (the author of The First Resort of Kings, a history of American cultural diplomacy), the Indian novelist Kavery Nambisan who is in residence at the International Writing Program this fall, and Harry Stecopolous, an English professor who is writing on cultural diplomacy. It was followed by a reception and the formal opening of a year-long exhibit on the Writing University.

Oct. 11-13: Professor Louis Pérez (History, North Carolina) was on campus as an Ida Beam visitor. His schedule included a public lecture on “Cuba and the United States: From Cultural Engagement to Political Conflict”; a lunch meeting with the History faculty and graduate students; and another public lecture on “Democracy in Latin America: Between Expectations and Experience”.

Oct. 3: The Iowa City Human Rights Commission sponsored Anthony Haughton’s (J.D. and current History graduate student) talk, "The Disparity of African American Incarceration in Iowa Jails & Prisons".

Sept. 27-28: Professor Thomas Trautmann of the University of Michigan Dept. of History, and an expert on Indian history especially in the ancient period, was on campus to participate in a seminar for the South Asian Studies Program.

Sept. 25: The UI Center for Ethnic Studies and the Arts, Department of American Studies sponsored a colloquium on Wendy Brown's new book, Regulating Aversion, Tolerance in the Age of Identity and Empire.

Sept. 25: Wine, Cheese & Gender meeting -- Jennifer Burek Pierce, UI School of Library and Information Science, presented Sexual Health in History: Attitudes Toward Gender in Early 20th Century Sexual Health Texts. This talk focuses on issues with communicating to young female readers.

Sept. 24: The UI African Studies Program hosted the first in the Fall 2007 Baraza Lecture Series. Fara Rabenarivo, PhD candidate (Dept. of French & Italian), presented "Purging the Ills of the City: Antananarivo in Contemporary Malagasy Francophone Prose."

Sept. 14: Jane Simonsen (Augustana College) presented “’Baby Factories’ and ‘Squatting Primitives’: The Woman Worker in Natural Childbirth Texts, 1945-1965” as part of the American Studies “Floating Friday” series.

Sept. 6: Evening Lecture " Explaining Darfur: Why Democratic Transition is Critical and How Current Peace Initiatives are Flawed" by Ibrahim A. Elbadawi (PhD, Lead Economist, Development Economics Research Group at The World Bank.

Aug 27: First Day of Fall Semester Classes