When you reach for your smartphone, is your hand reaching for it, or is the device now reaching for your hand, with its alerts, beeps, vibrations, and suddenly glowing screen? Does your hand want it, or does it want your hand? In this talk, I want to think about Walt Whitman’s most intimate passages, with his claims of a sentient physical book (codex) in mind—a kind of proto-smartphone—and see how his words work to evoke, to enact, the physical interaction between a living reader and a book...

Post-event follow-up: Watch a video of the March 1 event. It has long been known that we sleep most when we are young, but we still don’t fully understand why. Mark Blumberg is the F. Wendell Miller Professor and chair of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Iowa. He'll discuss some of the big questions about sleep in developing animals, including humans, and the ways researchers in his lab are trying to answer them. Blumberg received a PhD from the...

Post-event follow-up: Watch a video of the Feb. 21 event. In the past, many Iowans grew their own food. But today most land is farmed for corn and soybeans—animal feed and ethanol. It is estimated that up to 90% of the food we eat is imported from out of state while many people have little access to fresh fruit and vegetables. Field to Family (F2F) is a local nonprofit organization with a mission to create a more resilient, local, and healthy community food system. Its leadership and programs...

Post-event follow-up: Watch a video of the Feb. 14 event. Discover the history and take an inside look at the Hawkeye Marching Band with the band’s 13th director, Dr. Eric W. Bush, who has led the band since 2018. Founded in 1881, the 265-member Hawkeye Marching Band is the sound of Kinnick Stadium and the heartbeat of our university. We present pregame and halftime shows at all Iowa home football games, and at one or two away games each season. As the most visible ensemble in the School of...

Post-event follow-up: Watch a video of the Feb. 6 event.  The University's 10-Year facilities master plan will create much-needed academic space at the core of campus and modernize the delivery of education and patient care to Iowans. Projects in the master plan will evolve and change. They will be paid for with a combination of donor funding, state funding, hospital revenue, and other sources. Attendees will learn about planned specific new buildings, updates to current facilities, and more...

Post-event follow-up: Watch a video of the Jan. 17 event. Learn more about Lulu Merle Johnson, PhD (1907-1995), a lifelong educator for whom Johnson County, Iowa, is now named, thanks to a resolution passed by the Johnson County Board of Supervisors in 2021. Dr. Johnson's roots run deep in Iowa. She was born in Gravity, in Taylor County, graduated from Clinton High School, and obtained three degrees from the State University of Iowa, including a PhD in history in 1940, the first African...

Post-event follow-up: Watch a video of the Dec. 6 event. In August 2005, André Perry moved to Iowa City from San Francisco to pursue an MFA in the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program. In the years since relocating to Iowa City, he has had a range of leadership positions. He was the executive director of the Englert Theatre for 11 years, and he is co-founder of the Mission Creek and Witching Hour festivals. In 2021, André joined the University of Iowa’s Division of Diversity, Equity...

Post-event follow-up: Watch a video of the Dec. 1 event. Barbara J. Wilson is the 22nd president of the University of Iowa. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s and PhD degrees in communication arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She came to Iowa having served as the executive vice president/vice president for academic affairs of the University of Illinois System. Prior to that, she served in several administrative positions, including interim chancellor, at...

Post-event follow-up: Watch a video of the Nov. 10 event. Sonatina Fernandes, UI benefits specialist, and Anne Thurston, community and broker liaison with Health Alliance Medical Plans, will again present an overview of health benefit options available to UI retirees and answer your questions.   Plan to attend this session to get answers to all your questions about the 2023 health benefits options.

Post-event follow-up: Watch a video of the Nov. 3 event. Gary Schwartz, SHIIP counselor for 15 years and very familiar with the UI plans, will provide particularly relevant insights about what issues should be considered when choosing among health insurance plans, including the UI plans.  He will also discuss these two useful websites: https://shiip.iowa.gov and https://hr.uiowa.edu/benefits/ui-retiree-benefits.