The 13th Iowa City International Documentary Film Festival will take place April 10-11, 2015 in 105 Adler Building. The festival, presented by undergraduates in the UI Cinema Department, features documentaries from both Iowans and national and international filmmakers. The students aim to showcase different documenting styles and methods, questioning what it means to make a documentary.

A glance at a timeline of events in the Arab world since the December 2010 anti-government demonstrations in Tunisia that triggered what we now know as the Arab Spring reveals a swift and previously unthinkable resetting of the geo-political map of the Middle East. What followed those heady early days has been a toppling of dictatorships, emboldened public action, a sharpening of divisions within national and religious groups, humanitarian crises of alarming proportions, and challenges to major world powers unlike anything in recent memory. Internationally-renowned scholars on the Middle East and Arab world will join host Joan Kjaer when WorldCanvass explores “The Arab Spring in a Global Context.” This is the first event of the 2015 Provost’s Global Forum, and the public is invited to attend the free program at 5 p.m., April 28, at FilmScene in Iowa City.

I have never been one to shy away from a challenge, but helping students devise the “right strategy” for applying for a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award has been a daunting task. As the Fulbright Program Adviser (FPA) at the University of Iowa, a Big Ten institution with more than 30,000 students, it’s my job to assist students in their quest for this unparalleled, life-transforming opportunity.

UI student Andrew Mogni passed away on Sunday morning, April 5, 2015, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Andrew sustained serious injuries after a fall in Rome on January 14.

One of the most significant aspects of studying abroad is seeing everything you possibly can, while learning and growing every step of the way. After getting settled into my new life at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, I was quickly ready to get out there and begin seeing all the things I had spent months pinning on Pinterest. After all, my parents were beginning to wonder what exactly I was getting out of spending day after day at the beach.

UI Study Abroad Diversity Ambassador Scholar Mikkia Graves is a senior majoring in mathematics with a minor in statistics and a certificate in entrepreneurial management. This winter, Graves studied abroad on the USAC Havana Program in Havana, Cuba, where she explored the history and culture of Cuba. In this letter, she reflects on her study abroad experiences in Cuba and India as both a first-generation college student and an African American woman.

With the Iowa women’s golf team recruiting four freshmen earlier in the fall season, including one from Canada and one from Spain, it seems as if Iowa’s latest recruitment is paying off.

UI Study Abroad Diversity Ambassador Scholar Azzah Nasraddin reflects on her identity as a black Muslim American woman while abroad on the UI India Winterim program– and how her experiences broke down her stereotypes and prejudices. Azzah is a sophomore majoring in psychology and social work with a minor in global health and Arabic.