Shane Bobrycki 

Assistant Professor
Department of History

What is the focus of your work?  

My research examines the medieval world that arose after the collapse of the western Roman empire. My first book looked at the phenomenon of crowds. In the fifth and sixth centuries, western European populations declined profoundly. To take the most extreme example, the population of the ancient city of Rome may have numbered about one million people, but by the eighth century, all of Rome’s inhabitants could have fit into Kinnick stadium—with room to spare!

My ongoing research project asks about the causes, the extent, and the effects of that population change. A lot remains unknown: the written sources are very scarce, and historians must turn to archaeology and the sciences for proxy data (pollen records, ancient plague DNA, etc.).

Tell us about the broad impact you’d like it to have.

In medieval scholarship, the population question has been sidelined in recent years (with a few important exceptions), even though new evidence is pouring in. For my medievalist colleagues, I would like to put demography back on the map.

But I think demographic questions have many modern ramifications. Amid declining birth rates, we find ourselves asking question of what causes demographic decline and how it affects economic, political, social, and cultural life. The past can inform the present here. 

What excites you about the environment in CLAS?

It is fun to work in an environment where colleagues across fields want to work together. That is true both close to home (in the history department and across medieval studies) and outside of the social sciences and humanities.

I’m currently teaching a graduate seminar,  History and Scientific Approaches, and in a few weeks we will visit a mass spectrometry lab in the chemistry building. I was delighted, but not entirely surprised, to see how enthusiastically the folks over in chemistry offered to walk a group of historians through these techniques.

What are your hobbies and pursuits outside of work?

I love a long ramble through nature. A hike or just a very long walk is one of the ways I reset.

What are your favorite things to do in the Iowa City area?

I have enjoyed exploring with my family some of the nature in the area. There is a lot to see: Kent Park, Terry Trueblood, Hickory Hill, the Clear Creek Trail, Lake MacBride, and other parks further afield. Eastern Iowa has such an interesting natural ecology as a transition zone between prairie and woodland. 

Heather Parrish

Associate Professor
School of Art, Art History, and Design

What is the focus of your work?

As a research-based visual artist, my work focuses on specific waterways as sites, subjects, and lenses by which to examine complex societal, historical, and ecological relationships. I work in the expanded field of printmaking, employing experimental and archival photography, installation, video projection, shadow, light, and paper sculptural media.

Interdisciplinary collaboration is a sustaining part of my practice too. Most recently, a group of University of Iowa faculty from various CLAS departments collaborated with  Hancher to present an experiential performance-event, Meandering River, centering on the Iowa River. I am also part of an art-science project entitled Collective Scope which focuses on the Gowanus Canal and the remarkable microbiome inhabiting the toxic superfund site in Brooklyn, NY. In my hometown of Austin, TX, the flood-prone Waller Creek is my ongoing interlocutor, sharing layered histories of ecological, economic, and racialized displacement in the city.

Tell us about the broad impact you’d like it to have. 

Each project attempts to offer a shift in perspective, and provide space for multiple voices; human, riverine, and more. Broadly speaking, my hope is that the work will excavate underlying layers that give rise to current conditions, unsettle simple binaries (interior/exterior, belonging/otherness, etc.) and invite an expanded sense of interdependent community and responsibility in the more-than-human world.

What excites you about the environment in CLAS?

The opportunities to engage with the wide-ranging, innovative research of my colleagues and students. I also appreciate the multi-faceted support offered by the college.

What are your hobbies and pursuits outside of work?

During the warmer months I spend as much time outdoors with plant and animal life as I can—gardening, foraging, hiking, kayaking, listening to and spotting birds. During winter I love trail-running in the snow and crafting by a fire. And cooking meals with friends all year round.

What are your favorite things to do in the Iowa City area?

FilmScene and PS1 offer worlds of fun. 

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Rishab Nithyanand

Associate Professor
Department of Computer Science 

What are the focus and goals of your work?

The focus of my work is to make the systems that shape our online experiences visible and understandable. Platforms and advertising technologies quietly decide what content we see, how our opinions and communities form, and how our data moves behind the scenes.

Unfortunately, most of this happens out of sight. I build tools and methods to pull back that curtain, showing how these systems actually work, where they break down, and what their broader effects are. By doing this, I aim to give people, policymakers, and companies the clarity they need to make better decisions and to build an online environment more grounded in trust, transparency, and accountability.

Why is being in CLAS exciting to you?

Being in CLAS is exciting because it places me in the middle of a rich interdisciplinary environment were ideas naturally cross disciplinary boundaries. I get to work with excellent graduate and undergraduate students whose diverse interests encourage me to think about computer science in broader and more creative ways, and to explore how technology both shapes and is shaped by society. The college also fosters collaborations that make this work deeply rewarding.

For example, I get to collaborate with fantastic researchers like Brian Ekdale (School of Journalism and Mass Communication) who allow me to connect my computational research with insights from media studies and communication. To me, these opportunities make CLAS the ideal place to study not only how computer science technologies function, but also how they influence our culture, institutions, and everyday life.

What hobbies do you enjoy outside of work?

Outside of work, I am an enthusiastic, but (unfortunately) mediocre chess player. I also spend a good deal of time coaxing my indoor tropical plants into growing larger leaves. When the weather allows, I enjoy getting out on my bike, both to clear my head and to discover new places at a slower pace.

What are your favorite things to do in Iowa City?

My favorite things about Iowa City revolve around the culture and outdoors. Specifically, I love spending time downtown, catching talks and performances. I also love the trails along the river and around town for biking and long walks, especially when the seasons change.