Upcoming Events
Active Lives, Healthy Brains: Wellness Tips for Brain Health in Aging
Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Time: 11:30 a.m.
Location: Room 2520-D, University Capitol Centre (UCC), 200 South Capitol St., Iowa City, and via Zoom
RSVP: RSVP for Active Lives, Health Brains
Coffee and cookies at 11 a.m. Program begins at 11:30 a.m.
Brain health is important at every age. Risk for Alzheimer's and related dementias affecting cognitive health increase in our 60s and accelerate in our 70s and 80s. Professor Michelle Voss, director of the University of Iowa's Health, Brain, and...
Application Deadline: Faculty Book Proposal Workshop with Walter Biggins, Obermann Editor-in-Residence
For this workshop, five UI faculty members will submit book proposal drafts for a collaborative feedback session on Wednesday, Oct. 7, from 9 a.m. to noon, led by Walter Biggins, editor-in-chief at University of Pennsylvania Press. The session is designed to help authors write a compelling book proposal, with a focus on crafting a strong pitch, identifying target audiences, and outlining the project’s structure. The workshop’s goal is for participants to walk away with a strong and cohesive book...
Pentacrest Tree Tour and UIRA Social
Date: Thursday, September 17, 2026
Time:
Pentacrest Tree Tour: 3:30–4:30 p.m.
UIRA Social: 4:30–6 p.m.
Location:
Pentacrest Tree Tour: Meet in front of Macbride Hall, 17 N. Clinton St., Iowa City, 52240
UIRA Social: The Airliner, 22 S. Clinton St., Iowa City, 52240
RSVP: RSVP for the Pentacrest Tree Tour and UIRA Social
Please join us for both events if you can, but we hope to see you even if you are able to attend only one.
Pentacrest Tree Tour
If you have joined Andrew Dahl, University of Iowa campus...
RSVP Deadline: AMA with Walter Biggins, Obermann Editor-in-Residence
UI faculty, students, and staff are invited to attend ask-me-anything group discussions with Walter Biggins—editor-in-chief at University of Pennsylvania Press—at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 1 at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies. Questions might address finding an editor, pitching a book, writing a book proposal, how the publishing process works, etc.
There will be two back-to-back discussions; you may attend one or both.
Please RSVP by Wednesday, September 30.
Free and open to all.
Bi...
Registration Deadline: Undergraduate Career Session with Walter Biggins, Obermann Editor-in-Residence
Interested in a career in publishing? In this session on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at noon at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, Walter Biggins, editor-in-chief at University of Pennsylvania Press, will discuss his career path and editorial work. This is an opportunity for students to hear directly from a distinguished professional about the realities of the field and to gain insight into how to prepare for a career in publishing. Pizza will be provided!
Please register by Wednesday, September 30.
B...
Registration Deadline: Junior Faculty and Graduate Student Session with Walter Biggins, Obermann Editor-in-Residence
University of Iowa junior faculty and graduate students at all stages are invited to join Walter Biggins—editor-in-chief at the University of Pennsylvania Press—for a light breakfast and a conversation about turning an article, thesis, or dissertation into a book on Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 9–10:30 a.m. at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies library. Please bring any questions you have about that process or about scholarly publishing in general.
Register by Wednesday, September 30.
Biggins is...
AI Is Not Your Friend: Cautions and Vents about Its Uses and Abuses in the Creation of Scholarly Publications — public lecture by Walter Biggins, Obermann Editor-in-Residence
On Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 3–4 p.m. at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, Walter Biggins, editor-in-chief at University of Pennsylvania Press—will offer his perspective as both a longtime acquiring editor and as a writer on how the advent of AI affects the present and possible futures of scholarly publishing. In particular, he will discuss how the emerging technology creates concerns and unresolved tensions—ethical, legal, and otherwise—in publishing around intellectual property, peer...
Fall Barn Party
Date: Friday, October 9
Time: 4:00–6:00 p.m.
Location: Home of UIRA members Pam Terrill and Steve Scheckel, 4317 320th St. NE, Iowa City
👉 RSVP by October 2. Space is limited to 65 participants.
All UIRA members and friends are warmly invited to join us for a fun and festive fall gathering in a truly special setting—a 100+-year-old barn on the beautiful acreage of UIRA members Pam Terrill and Steve Scheckel, just two miles from downtown Iowa City (formerly the O’Mara Homestead).
Enjoy delicious food...
Holding Space: Stories of Interdisciplinary Collaboration — Counterpoint event featuring Stephanie Miracle
Join us to celebrate the interdisciplinary work of University of Iowa choreographer and assistant professor of dance Stephanie Miracle, recipient of the 2026 Obermann Interdisciplinary Achievement Award.
Miracle will bring together dance, engineering, and the humanities in a new choreographed work featuring dancers performing alongside robots built by the University of Iowa College of Engineering, with narration by Eric Gidal.
A conversation among Miracle, Gidal, and engineering collaborator Deema...
Insurance Updates
Date: Friday, October 16
Time: 12:30–1:30 p.m.
Location: Room 2520-D, University Capitol Centre (UCC), 200 South Capitol St., Iowa City, and via Zoom
👉 RSVP by October 12.
A light lunch will be available for in-person attendees prior to the program.
As health care open enrollment begins, Rebecca Olson, senior director of Benefits, University of Iowa Human Resources, will present an overview of the UI’s 2026–27 enrollment options available to UI retirees.
Kevin Ward, Senior Health Insurance Information...
Note: Videos of past lectures may be available on the EFC Lecture Series page.
Past Events
EFC Lecture | American Art for the Public Good: Case Studies from a Career in Art History | Joni Kinsey, Professor Emerita, Art, Art History, and Design
EFC Lecture | Brass Quintet Music From the 16th to the 21st Centuries: A Concert with Commentary | Scott Vogelgesang, Professor Emeritus, Internal Medicine
EFC Lecture | Teaching Shakespeare on Zoom: Lessons and Learning | Miriam Gilbert, Professor Emerita, English
EFC Lecture | Academic Freedom: Implications of Recent Changes in Iowa Law and Rules from the Board of Regents - John Reitz, Law and Patricia Zebrowski, CLAS
EFC Lecture | Mozart, Le Nozze di Figaro: A closer look at a masterwork - Stephen Swanson
EFC Lecture | Medical Directives: End-of-Life Planning and Decision Making - Len Sandler, JD
EFC Lecture Series: From Language History to History as it Happens: A Sociolinguist in the Migration Crisis - Mercedes Niño-Murcia
Professor Emerita Niño-Murcia will discuss big and small ways in which language politics generate and perpetuate North American inequalities.
EFC Lecture: Mary Trachsel - Going Feral: Animal Studies Scholarship in Retirement and Retrospect
This lecture traces Professor Trachsel's studies on cross-species communication from analyses of ape language research in the early 2000’s to investigation of other interspecies language types, such as horse whispering and the telepathy professed by animal communicators. Her current research on human-wild animal relationships has entailed wolf-tracking in Yellowstone, a “women and wolves” workshop in the Boundary Waters, observation of feral horses out west, and visits to wildlife "encounter"...