The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will welcome five distinguished scholars and artists during the 2026–27 academic year through the Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professorships Program.

Established in 1978–79 through a bequest from Ida Cordelia Beam of Vinton, Iowa, the program brings distinguished teachers and scholars from the United States and abroad to campus. Visiting professors engage with students and faculty through lectures and other activities designed to enrich teaching and research across disciplines.

This year’s CLAS visitors bring expertise spanning artificial intelligence (AI), poetry and creative writing, contemporary music, literature, and media studies.

Learn more about the Ida Beam visiting professors coming to CLAS this academic year:

Lawrence Baron

Lawrence Baron is professor emeritus of modern Jewish history at San Diego State University. His scholarship focuses on modern Jewish history, Holocaust studies, and representations of Jewish history and the Holocaust in film.

Baron’s visit is sponsored by German; World Languages, Literatures and Cultures; International Studies; Jewish Studies; Religious Studies; and English. He will visit in spring 2027.

Bergamot Quartet

Bergamot Quartet is a New York City-based string quartet dedicated to contemporary chamber music and the work of living composers. The ensemble regularly commissions new music and collaborates with artists across genres while expanding the possibilities of the traditional string quartet.

The ensemble includes Ledah Finck and Sarah Thomas (violins), Martine Thomas (viola), and Irène Han (cello).

Bergamot Quartet’s visit is sponsored by the School of Music. The ensemble will visit April 17-23, 2027.

Mary Gaitskill

Mary Gaitskill is a novelist, essayist, and short story writer whose works include the novels The Mare, Veronica, and Two Girls, Fat and Thin, as well as the short story collection Bad Behavior. Veronica was a finalist for the National Book Award, and Gaitskill’s fiction and essays have appeared in publications including The New Yorker and Harper’s Magazine.

Gaitskill’s visit is sponsored by the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and Creative Writing Program in the Department of English, and the Graduate College's International Writing Program.

Douglas Kearney

Douglas Kearney is a poet, performer, and librettist, and a professor of English at the University of Minnesota. His work includes poetry, nonfiction, and writing for performance, with interests spanning Black aesthetics and literature, experimental writing, cultural criticism, and hip-hop studies.

Kearney’s honors include the Whiting Award in Poetry and the National Poetry Series Prize. His visit is sponsored by the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in the Department of English, the University of Iowa Center for the Book, and the Graduate College.

Ross McGarry

Ross McGarry is a professor of criminology at the University of Liverpool. His research focuses on war, military power, state violence, and the experiences of military veterans, with particular attention to the intersections of criminology and armed conflict.

McGarry’s visit is sponsored by the Department of Sociology and Criminology and the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights. His visit is hosted by Stephanie DiPietro. He will visit Nov. 11, 2026.

Cristopher Moore

Cristopher Moore is a professor at the Santa Fe Institute whose interdisciplinary research spans computer science, mathematics, and physics. His work explores computational complexity, networks, statistical inference, and artificial intelligence, including questions surrounding the transparency and fairness of AI systems.

Moore’s visit is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' Departments of computer science, philosophy, mathematics, and sociology and criminology; the College of Public Health's Department of Biostatistics, the Tippie College of Business Department of Business Analytics, and the College of Engineering's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He will visit Sept. 7–11, 2026.

Amanda Shubert

Amanda Shubert is a teaching faculty and educational innovation coordinator in the Department of English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research and teaching focus on 19th-century British literature and culture, empire, and colonialism; film and media studies, visual studies, and Jewish studies.

Her 2025 book, Seeing Things: Virtual Aesthetics in Victorian Culture, examines the history of virtual aesthetics before the invention of cinema and its relationship to later forms of visual media.

Shubert’s visit is sponsored by the Department of English, the Jewish studies certificate in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies, and the International Programs unit.