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IWP Director Chris Merrill earns Guggenheim Fellowship
April 23, 2019
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Carrel garners prestigious Carnegie Fellowship
April 23, 2019
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Professor of English Jonathan Wilcox awarded Fulbright Scholar Grant
April 22, 2019
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University of Iowa Professor of English Jonathan Wilcox has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar Grant for work on his project, “Viking-Age North-Sea Culture: Exploring Medieval Connections between Iceland and England.” Wilcox will fulfill his grant in Iceland for the fall 2019 semester. Wilcox will be teaching two courses in medieval literature, culture, and language at the University of Iceland. These courses will serve undergraduates in the Department of English and will also be open to undergraduate and MA students in the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies, which houses the Program in Viking and Medieval Norse Studies. In addition to his classes, Wilcox will give a presentation on his research on medieval culture in a public lecture hosted by the Centre for Research in the Humanities. He also plans to strengthen the relationship between the University of Iceland and the University of Iowa during his fellowship.
The Fulbright Program, which aims to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. Fulbright recipients have the opportunity to work collaboratively with international partners in educational, political, cultural, economic, and scientific fields.
Wilcox joined the University of Iowa faculty in 1987. He has served as chair of the Department of English, received the Regents Award for Faculty Excellence, and been appointed as Collegiate Fellow by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. His research interests center on Anglo-Saxon culture, or the literature, language, and thought of early medieval England.
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Dean’s Achievement Awards given to CLAS students
April 22, 2019
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has named undergraduates Fredrick Cherry, Jr., and Logina (Gina) Mostafa as recipients of the 2019 Dean’s Achievement Award. The award is given to outstanding undergraduate students who are eligible for services from the Center for Diversity and Enrichment.
Cherry is a student in the English and Creative Writing program and was nominated by Professor of English Stephen Voyce. He was born and raised in Chicago. While attending the University of Iowa, Cherry established the Black Faculty Series, which brings together students of color and African American faculty; served as a member of the Dream Center, a program designed to mentor young black high school students; and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, working to build houses for the homeless. Among his many additional contributions to the university, he was elected National Pan-Hellenic Council President and served as the Black Student Success Coordinator for the On Iowa! orientation program for entering students. Cherry was recently admitted to the University of Maryland's PhD program in English, where he plans to study African American literature. 
Mostafa is majoring in Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) and Global Health, and will graduate this May with honors in GWSS. Mostafa was nominated by Professors of GWSS Maryann Rasmussen and Meena Khandelwal. Born in Egypt, Mostafa lived in New York until age 11, and attended middle school and high school in Bettendorf, Iowa. As an undergraduate, Mostafa was a member of the 2016 N.E.W. Leadership Program, an intensive 5-day residential institute designed to empower women across the political spectrum andreceived the Stephen Lynn Smith Memorial Scholarship for Social Justice. She was a Violence Prevention Peer Educator at the Women’s Resource and Action Center; an Electoral Fellow for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland; a NextGen America Fellow; a Social Media and Outreach Intern for GWSS; a Research Assistant for the Study of Eugenic Legacies in Iowa Project in the UI College of Public Health; and a participant in the USAC Health and Society Study Abroad Program atChrist University in Bangalore, India, where she initiated research for her honors thesis and volunteered with a university-based NGO teaching English to children. Mostafa will be a graduate student next fall in the College of Global Public Health at New York University, where she plans to continue the work she began in her honors thesis on the connections between reproductive and environmental justice. She plans to pursue a career devoted to protecting women’s reproductive rights, especially women in marginalized communities.The dean in each of the UI’s 11 colleges is asked to select a recipient for the award. Each college sets its own selection criteria. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences looks for students who have made significant contributions to the university or surrounding communities through their vision and action. In addition, the students nominated demonstrate responsibility, inspiration and diligence, and good judgment. The selection committee is interested in the student’s academic accomplishments within and beyond the major; special honors, scholarships; activities and volunteering both on and off campus.
CLAS Associate Dean Meenakshi Gigi Durham will present their awards at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, May 10, at the Graduation Reception sponsored by the UI Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The event will be held in the IMU Main Lounge.Cherry and Mostafa will receive a $150 scholarship as part of the award.
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English Prof Loren Glass to publish book on Carole King's "Tapestry"
April 19, 2019
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Homerathon 2019: Connecting with Community via the Classics
April 19, 2019
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Inside and out: World-renowned sculptor and alum returns to UI campus
April 18, 2019
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Physics and Astronomy teaches about nature's rhythms in 2019 Public Demonstration Show
April 14, 2019
Students David Bernstein, Cole Dorman, Zachary Luppen, Daniel Reinart, Cory Rude,
and James Rowden blow them away at Public Demonstration ShowEach spring Dale Stille, Instructional Research Specialist in the University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy, coordinates the department's highly anticipated and free Public Demonstration Show, with the help of student volunteers and Professors Vincent Rodgers and Greg Howes. The 2019 show was March 15. Much time and preparation and after hours work goes into the event. It is held in Lecture Room 1 of Van Allen Hall, which seats 304 and is filled to standing room only.
This year's show explored nature's rhythms, showcasing quantum clocks, waves, frequency, sound and audience waves, acoustic levitation, signatures of gravitational sound waves using sound and a vortex cannon, and much more. There were hands-on displays in the lobby for kids before and after the show, and Stille drew for raffle prizes for the kids during the show.
Keep your eyes peeled for next year's show!
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University of Iowa Computer Science Professor Tianbao Yang granted NSF CAREER Award
April 11, 2019
University of Iowa Computer Science Professor Tianbao Yang has been granted the National Science Foundation CAREER Award for his proposal titled, “Advancing Constrained and Non-Convex Learning.”Yang proposes to advance machine learning without incurring bias and without unnecessary energy use. He plans to complete this by designing and analyzing efficient and effective optimization algorithms to address computational challenges in new machine learning paradigms. The project will enhance the ability to solve large-scale, real-world problems from more diverse and broad applications. Furthermore, it will strive to communicate the significance of machine learning and optimization and provide excellent research experience to students at all levels.
The CAREER award is the most prestigious NSF honor for early-career faculty who demonstrate the potential to serve as role models in research and education. These highly competitive grants, presented to engineers and scientists across the country, help establish a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research in their department and university.
Yang joined the University of Iowa faculty in 2014. His current research interests include machine learning and optimization and its applications to big data analytics.
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Professor of Anthropology Ted Powers publishes article in Focaal - Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology
April 11, 2019
University of Iowa Professor of Anthropology Ted Powers authored a peer-reviewed article titled, "Echoes of austerity: Policy, temporality, and public health in South Africa," that was featured in Focaal - Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology (Issue #83, Spring 2019) . Powers was co-guest editor of the issue, and also co-authored its introduction, “The anthropology of austerity: An introduction.” In the article, Powers examines how policy principals associated with austerity travel across time, space, and the levels of the state in South Africa, eventually manifesting in a public health policy that produced cuts to public health services. These cuts have impaired the livelihoods of South African poor and working-class people.
"Of particular concern is how interpersonal networks of state policy actors produced particular temporal dynamics by incorporating austerity into state health policy,” Powers said. “Studying the role of people and interpersonal networks within the state thus helps one to see why policy moves at certain times and not others.”
Powers joined the University of Iowa faculty in 2014. His research focuses on the dynamics of health, politics, and social inequality in post-apartheid South Africa.
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