The Obermann Humanities Symposium is one of our longest-running programs. Symposia have been organized by some of our most respected UI faculty and have featured amazing guests, including Elizabeth Warren, several MacArthur "genius" awardees, and a Pulitzer Prize winner. Organizing a symposium also entails significant work. We are adapting the best parts of this program to provide more opportunities for shorter planning periods and abbreviated events. And we've notably added "arts" to the title to invite more collaborative ideas that originate from and/or include this vital part of our campus community.

Is there a burning topic in your discipline or a topic that cuts across disciplines that we should bring to campus? Is there a format for the conversation that can energize an intellectual community around that topic? Propose a day-long or half-day imaginative, cross-disciplinary symposium that engages campus and community. Bring up to six invited speakers while also highlighting the work of UI and local experts. As we reaffirm our commitment to inclusive practices, the embrace of diverse voices and intentionally equitable design will be especially valued in proposals.

Applications for the 2023-24 academic year are due Oct. 26. To learn more about the program, attend a virtual information session on Sept. 22 at 8:30 a.m. led by Teresa Mangum, director of the Obermann Center.

will take place on Thursday, September 29, 2022, from 4:30–5:30 p.m. at the Iowa City Public Library. This friendly competition is designed to feature the work of UI humanities graduate students. The 3MT event challenges graduate students to articulate their complex research clearly and concisely to non-specialist audiences in just a few minutes. Participants can share their thesis or PhD work, research related to an internship, or an outside project. The only requirement is that it is the student’s research and that it has a humanities focus. The winner will receive $250 and directly advance to the campus-wide 3MT final. The Graduate College has workshops and other resources available to help students prepare.

When you become part of one of our Obermann Working Groups, you'll be in conversation with UI faculty, staff, graduate students, and, in some cases, community members. There are 27 groups this year whose foci range from academic podcasting to reproductive justice and from Jewish studies to the health humanities. Read about all of the groups and find directors' emails. Reach out to these group leaders to join a meeting early in the semester to discern if you'd like to become an active member.

From creating a zine about the "adaptive reuse" of historic buildings to interviewing alumni of the Latino Native American Cultural Center, our summer Humanities for the Public Good interns were busy expanding their skills. This was the fourth year of the internship program, which is funded by the Mellon Foundation. Students worked with Public Space One; the Multicultural Development Center of Iowa; the Civil Rights Heritage Center in South Bend, IN; Iowa Intersections; UI Libraries' Special Collections; and the Office of the State Archaeologist. We are so thankful to these partners for providing space and guidance to University of Iowa students seeking ways to share their scholarly skills with wider audiences! View videos the interns created summarizing their work, and read blog posts they wrote over the summer.

Launched in 2015 as an initiative of the Humanities Without Walls (HWW) consortium, this annual workshop welcomes 30 participants each summer from higher education institutions across the U.S. HWW Summer Workshop Fellows are scholars and practitioners who bring experience in community building, museum curation, filmmaking, radio programming, social media, project management, research, writing, and teaching. They're invested in issues of social justice and seek ways to bring humanistic values, insights, and skills to the public and private sectors. Next summer's workshop, occurring from July 17-28 on the campus of the University of Minnesota, includes sessions on values-based career planning, resume and cover letter construction, networking, and social media strategies from experts in career development. Applications are due November 1.

The Obermann Center is once again partnering with the Research Development Office in the Office of the Vice President for Research on a second round of Seeding Excellence: OVPR Community Engaged Scholars (Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences) grants. The grants will fund one-year projects for university/community teams who bring their expertise together to find productive approaches to solving problems.

Interested in applying and in learning about publicly engaged scholarship in the arts, humanities, and social sciences? Join us for a mini-design workshop on Friday, September 16 from 1:00-3:00.