Summer Research Seminars

Organized around interdisciplinary themes, the summer Research Seminars allow scholars worldwide to work together over an extended period of time, exchange ideas, and then shape and collect their individual essays and papers into significant publications. On average, the seminars have convened a dozen or so competitively-selected fellows for anywhere from two to four weeks and have achieved an impressive publication record. Recent seminars have focused on representations of aging, on the impact of the Spanish-American War, and on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Directorships: All tenured University of Iowa faculty members in all fields are invited to submit proposals to design and direct the Center's Summer Research Seminar. Approximately $40,000 is available to support Fellows, visiting speakers, and administrative costs.

Past Summer Seminars

Summer 2009 "Borrowing to the Brink: Consumer Debt in America" directed by Katherine Porter (Law) included some of the top experts in the country from law, cultural psychology, sociology, economics and medicine to produce a collection of empirical papers originating froma single data set, the 2007 Consumer Bankruptcy Project, the largest and most representative academic study of consumer bankruptcy.

Summer 2008 "Medieval Manuscript Studies and Contemporary Book Arts: Extreme Materialist Readings of Medieval Books."The Obermann Center collaborated with the Center for the Book to bring book artists and medieval scholars together in a two-week seminar that integrated scholarly study and engaged artistic practice. Director: Jon Wilcox (English).

Summer 2007 "Structural and Function Organization of the Synapse" Director: Johannes W. Hell ( Phamacology) brought together international leaders in neurosciences to discuss critical issues in the field.

Summer 2006 "Comparative Archaeologies: The American Southwest (AD 900-1600) and the Iberian Peninsula (3000-1500 BC). Directors: UI Anthropology professors Katina T. Lillios and William M. Graves. This seminar brought together for the first time scholars working in the American Southwest in the period AD 900-1600 and archaeologists working in the Iberian Peninsula in the period between 3000-1500 BC to engage and discuss a common set of themes and problems.

Summer 2005 "The Art and Cultural Politics of Carnival" - Directors: Loyce L. Arthur, Associate Professor, Theatre Arts and Michaeline A. Crichlow, Associate Professor, African-American World Studies. Seminar dates: July 6-16, 2005.

Summer 2004 " Images of Justice: Cinema, Law and the State in Comparative Perspective" - Directors: Mark Sidel, Associate Professor of Law, and Corey K. Creekmur, Associate Professor of English and Cinema & Comparative Literature and Director, Institute for Cinema and Culture, The University of Iowa. Seminar dates: June 1-15, 2004.

Summer 2003 - no seminar in 2003

Summer 2002
"The Emergence of the Modern Disciplines" Director: David Depew - Seminar dates: June 10-26, 2002.

Summer 2001
"Opera in Context: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Creation, Performance, and Reception" Directors: Roberta M. Marvin and Downing A. Thomas. Seminar dates: June 11-27, 2001.

Summer 2000
"The Usable Past: Historical Perspectives on Digital Culture" - Directed by Lauren Rabinovitz

Summer 1999
"Late Life: Representations, Perceptions, Possibilities" - Directed by Teresa Mangum and Kathleen C. Buckwalter

Summer 1998
"Legacies of 1898: Sovereignty and Colonialism in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, and Hawai'i, and their Impact on the United States" - Directed by Virginia Dominguez (Anthropology) and Jane Desmond (American Studies/Women's Studies)

Summer 1997
"Employment, Disability Policy, and the Americans With Disabilities Act" - Directed by Peter Blanck (School of Law)

Summer 1996
"Ethical and Legal Implications of Stored Human Tissue Samples" Directed by Jeffrey Murray, (Pediatrics and Biology) and Robert Weir (Medical Ethics)

Summer 1995
"Comparative Law and Politics in Europe"

Summer 1994
"Optimization in Theory and Practice"

Summer 1993
"Family and Community-Based Approaches to Social Problems"

Summer 1992
"The Image in Dispute: Visual Cultures in Modernity"

Summer 1991
"Presidential Campaigning and American Self-Images"