|
A CALL FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Dear Members, Supporters, and Community Partners,
This month, we’re excited to share a number of meaningful opportunities coming soon to connect, learn, and take part in building a more engaged and globally minded community.
First, we are proud to announce ICFRC’s Fall 2025 Program Series, featuring four public events that explore critical global issues shaping our lives today. Topics will include healthcare access, immigration policy, economic inequality, and the balance of power in democracy. These programs are designed to bring people together across perspectives to consider the challenges ahead and the leadership we need to meet them.
In August and September, we are also partnering with FilmScene to present two impactful films. On August 11, join us for Resettled: Life After Refugee Resettlement, a documentary that humanizes the global refugee crisis through stories of local resilience. Then, on September 7, we invite you to Join or Die, a screening and Community Club Fair that highlights the urgent need to rebuild civic connections in American life. This event will feature local organizations ready to help you get involved, take action, and be part of the solutions our communities need.
These gatherings are more than events. They are invitations to engage with one another, to listen, to ask questions, and to contribute. Your presence matters, and your voice strengthens the conversation.
In partnership,
Peter Gerlach
Executive Director
Iowa City Foreign Relations Council
| | UPCOMING EVENTS AT A GLANCE | | ANNOUNCING THE FALL '25 PROGRAM SERIES | |
In this four-part series, we will explore some of the most pressing challenges of our time: healthcare, immigration, economic inequality, and democracy. Our speakers will address these critical questions, examine what kind of leadership is needed, and invite us to consider how we can collectively respond to the anxieties and complexities of our world today.
We invite you to join us in this important conversation, to bring your voice and curiosity, and to engage with others in fostering understanding and meaningful dialogue. Your participation and support are vital in helping ICFRC continue its mission of building connections and creating a more informed and engaged community through international topics.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION COMING SOON!
| | | | |
What is Causing the Increasing
Distrust in Healthcare?
With Chief Lorenzo Sanford and Jeanine Abrons
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2025
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
IOWA CITY SENIOR CENTER
| | | | |
Is the USA a Nation of Immigrants
or a Deportation Nation?
With Dr. Adam Goodman and Dr. Lina-Maria Murillo
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2025
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY
| | | | |
What are the Costs of Widespread
Economic Inequality?
With Dr. Augusto Lopez-Claros and Dr. Todd Knoop
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2025
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY
| | | | |
How Does Too Much Presidential Power Endanger Democracy?
With Dr. David Driesen
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2025
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
UI OLD CAPITOL SENATE CHAMBERS
| |
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FILMSCENE
Around the world today, over 122 million individuals have been forcibly displaced by conflict, political instability, famine, and persecution. The staggering scale of this crisis can leave many feeling helpless, believing only governments or large institutions can address such challenges. But what if meaningful change could begin at the community level?
Join ICFRC at FilmScene for a compelling screening of Resettled, a documentary that offers a deeply personal look into the lives of refugees navigating their new realities after resettlement. The film invites viewers beyond headlines and statistics, exploring the resilience, hope, and humanity of those rebuilding their lives far from home.
Following the screening, a facilitated discussion will be hosted by Rose-Angèle Mizose, Dr. Sunday Goshit, and Dr. Peter Gerlach.
This program is an opportunity not only to bear witness but also to reflect on our shared responsibility and potential to foster inclusion and understanding right here in our community.
| | |
Resettled: Life After Refugee Resettlement
MONDAY AUGUST 11, 2025, 7:00 - 8:30PM
FILMSCENE AT THE CHAUNCEY
404 EAST COLLEGE STREET, IOWA CITY, IA
Hosted by Rose-Angèle Mizose, ICFRC Board Member Dr. Sunday Goshit, and Executive Director Dr. Peter Gerlach.
| | |
Reflections 80 years after the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki opened the age of nuclear weapons.
This will be a short event on the Iowa City Ped Mall on Friday evening, August 8. It will begin at 9 PM at the end of the Friday Night Concert, and will conclude before 9:30 PM.
"Please plan to join Veterans for Peace on the evening of Friday, August 8 at the Iowa City Ped Mall just before 9:00 PM, dressed in black, to remember and mourn the horrific events of 80 years ago in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan - when in mere moments following an explosion of bright light and an earth shattering blast, over 200,000 people were dead and countless others severely impacted."
| | PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FILMSCENE AND TRANSITION TOWN IOWA CITY | | |
Are you part of an Iowa City area club or organization open to welcoming new members? Sign up for the Join and Thrive event to meet prospective members and showcase what your club is all about: Join or Thrive Club Fair – Organization Registration Link
In this feature documentary, follow the half-century story of America's civic unraveling through the journey of legendary social scientist Robert Putnam, whose groundbreaking "Bowling Alone" research into America's decades-long decline in community connections could hold the answers to our democracy's present crisis. Flanked by influential fans and scholars — from Hillary Clinton, Pete Buttigieg, and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to Eddie Glaude Jr., Raj Chetty, and Priya Parker — as well as inspiring groups building community in neighborhoods across the country, join Bob as he explores three urgent civic questions: What makes democracy work? Why is American democracy in crisis? And, most importantly… What can we do about it?
Are you into sports, dance, nature, community service, or anything at all? We want you to join a club! Discover opportunities and meet people from a variety of local clubs at the Join and Thrive event!
| | |
Join and Thrive: Film Screening and Community Club Fair
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2025
FILM SCREENING 3-4:50pm, CLUB FAIR 4:30-6pm
FILMSCENE AT THE CHAUNCEY
Hosted by ICFRC Executive Director Dr. Peter Gerlach
| | |
Join us this month in recognizing Professor Emerita Constance H. Berman for her meaningful support of ICFRC and our mission to bring international understanding to the Iowa City community. As a renowned scholar of medieval history and a lifelong advocate for education, Dr. Berman exemplifies the intellectual curiosity and global engagement that inspire our work.
Her thoughtful contributions and encouragement help us continue offering programs that expand awareness, foster dialogue, and invite people of all backgrounds into conversations that reach beyond borders.
Thank you, Constance, for your partnership and for all you do to champion global understanding.
| | FEATURED PROGRAM RECORDING | | Seven Myths About Immigration | November 3, 2016 with Speaker Dr. Michael Žmolek | | Are there topics and speakers you would like to see brought to our community? Are you interested in being one of our speakers? | | | | |
