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2008 Archived Press Releases

2008

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December 2008

Fitch named UI associate dean of International Programs

Kristine Fitch, professor of communication studies in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has been named associate dean of International Programs at the University of Iowa, effective Jan. 1.

Fitch assumes the responsibilities previously held by Downing Thomas, who left the position in July 2008 to become interim associate provost and dean of International Programs. As associate dean, Fitch will promote international scholarship and education across campus and in the community; supervise the academic centers, programs and grants office within International Programs; seek enhanced support for faculty research and creative work; and oversee the International Programs curricula, including the international studies undergraduate major and the master of arts degree in international studies.

November 2008

Discussion of education systems focus of Nov. 17 International Mondays

Asila Mohammed Al Ma’awali, Dessy Hangresko and Aushima Thakur, Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants at the University of Iowa, will present “A Panel Discussion on Education Systems: Oman, Indonesia and India” as part of the International Mondays lecture series. The presentation takes place from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.

The discussion is part of the annual International Education Week celebration. During the panel, the teaching assistants will discuss the education systems of their home countries and explain the similarities and differences between their country’s education system and the United States’ education system. The discussion will be moderated by Professor Scott McNabb of the UI College of Education. This will be the final International Mondays of the Fall semester.

Asila Mohammed Al Ma’awali is a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant who is teaching Modern Standard Arabic at the UI. She was born in the Sultanate of Oman. She has a bachelor’s degree in teaching English as a foreign language from the Sultan Qaboos University. She taught English in high schools in Oman for five years. She is also an educational trainer at Ibra Training Centre in the Sultanate of Oman. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, socializing with friends and reading.

Dessy Hangresko was born and raised in Indonesia. She is currently a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant teaching Indonesian at the UI. She has also taught English at colleges and high schools in Indonesia, and tutored non-native speakers in both English and Indonesian. She earned her bachelor’s degree in education at Surabaya State University in Indonesia and an honors certification as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant in Bahasa Indonesia, where she also received the Best Speaking Motivator Award. In her free time, she enjoys outdoor recreation, singing, playing guitar, theatre, and poetry.

Aushima Thakur, who is originally from India, is a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant who teaches Hindi at the UI. She is currently working on her doctoral degree in English linguistics from Panjab University in Chandigarh, India. She has a master’s degree in English literature from Panjab University as well as a bachelor’s degree in life sciences from Himachal Pradesh University. She worked for Google in India as an online sales and training specialist, taught English at the Government Post Graduate College in India, and is currently writing a book for Kids for The Energy and Resources Institute in India. In her free time, she enjoys reading, going on treks with her family, and oil painting.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

October 2008

'The Post-Apartheid Generation in South Africa' topic of Nov. 5 luncheon

Niq Mhlongo, a South African writer, will present "The Post-Apartheid Generation in South Africa" at a noon luncheon of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Wednesday, Nov. 5 at the Congregational Church, 30 N. Clinton St. in Iowa City.

Mhlongo was born in Midway-Chiawelo Soweto, South Africa in 1973, the eighth of 10 children. In the belief that he would be spared the violence that characterized most Soweto schools at the time, his parents sent him to Limpopo province, the former Northern Province, for his education. In 1990, his last year of school, classes were disrupted upon the release of former president Nelson Mandela from jail. As a consequence of the widespread turmoil at schools in this period, he failed to graduate from high school and had to repeat the grade, which he did successfully in 1991.

His first novel, "Dog Eat Dog" is an account of his experience as a young South African of the post-apartheid generation.

Oasis Falafel will cater the event. Reservations are $7.50 for council members and $8.50 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is noon Monday, Nov. 3.

For more information visit http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/events.asp or call 319-335-0351.

Markley to discuss history of ecology movement Nov. 3

The University of Iowa 18th- and 19th-Century Interdisciplinary Colloquium will host a lecture that asks—what is the history of today’s ecology movement?—at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 3 in Gerber Lounge, English-Philosophy Building.

Robert Markley, the Romano Professorial Scholar in the English Department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will present “Defoe, Narrative, and the Instability of ‘Nature.’” Markley’s talk examines theories of climate in the 17th and 18th centuries—theories that reverberate quietly in the background today. The presentation is part of this year’s ENCIC lecture series, “Historicizing ‘Sustainability’: Ecological Insights from the Past.”

Drawing on recent theoretical work in historical ecology, Markley explains how the “Putridness in the Air” that many European writers attributed to the swamps and mudflats led to the insistence that, at least in temperate climates, waste lands could be improved by draining swamps and converting wetlands to pasture or agricultural uses. These views of the relationships between climate, health, and productivity led writers such as Daniel Defoe to reject later 18th and 19th-century notions of a pristine ecology. For Defoe, Nature is not Nature without the advantages of agricultural improvements. The resulting ecological and economic conflicts between humans and “nature” continue today in debates about tradeoffs among economics, resource extraction, climate change, public health, and environmental preservation.

Professor Markley is the author of four books, most recently “The Far East and the English Imagination 1600-1730” (Cambridge University Press, 2006) and “Dying Planet: Mars in Science and the Imagination” (Duke University Press, 2005). His current research examines connections between culture and climate, the subject of his essay “Monsoon Cultures: Climate and Acculturation in Alexander Hamilton's ‘A New Account of the East-Indies,’” New Literary History 38 (2007), 527-50.

The event is free and open to the public.

In celebration of the ninth annual International Education Week, International Programs is proud to announce that we are seeking nominations for the second annual Outstanding International Achievement awards.

Each year, the University of Iowa recognizes two individuals – one UI student and one community member – for their significant contributions and accomplishments in advancing international understanding and education to the campus, community, state and beyond.

The nomination deadline has been extended to Friday, Oct. 24 at 5 p.m. Nominations can be dropped off at the International Programs reception desk or mailed to Heidi Vekemans, 1111 University Capitol Centre, 1111AL, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-5500.

UI student nomination form
Community member nomination form

All nominees, nominators, and award winners will be invited to the International Education Week awards ceremony, which will take place on Friday, Nov. 21 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Old Capitol.
For more information on International Education Week, see: http://iew.state.gov/.

A calendar of events taking place on the UI campus will be posted to the International Programs web site in late October.

'Democracy Promotion in a Time of Transition' topic of Oct. 29 luncheon

Thomas O. Melia, deputy executive director of Freedom House, will present "Democracy Promotion in a Time of Transition" at a noon luncheon of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Wednesday, Oct. 29 at Congregational Church, 30 N. Clinton St. in Iowa City.

Freedom House is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that strives to be a voice for democracy and freedom around the world. Through an array of international programs and publications, Freedom House works to advance the worldwide expansion of political and economic freedom. Melia oversees the organization's research and analysis, advocacy efforts and assistance programs to counterparts on five continents. On behalf of Freedom House, he testifies to Congressional committees, speaks at conferences and to audiences in the U.S. and abroad, and frequently to the media.

Mam's Deli will cater the event. Reservations are $7.50 for council members and $8.50 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is noon Monday, Oct. 27.

For more information visit http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/events.asp or call 319-335-0351.

Confucius Institute hosts October calligraphy events Oct. 24 and 31

The Confucius Institute at the University of Iowa will offer two special calligraphy events in October featuring Ramon Lim, an accomplished calligrapher.

A calligraphy reception, exhibit and lecture will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24 in 1117 University Capitol Centre. The exhibit will feature calligraphy works by Lim, who will also present a lecture, "Introduction to Calligraphy." This event is free and open to the public.

Lim will lead a hands-on calligraphy class from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31 in 1117 University Capitol Centre. This class is intended for adults, high school students and youth in grades five through eight, if accompanied by an adult.

For more information visit http://international.uiowa.edu/confucius/news.asp, e-mail confucius@uiowa.edu or call Rebecca Kessler at 319-335-0159.

Mandarin Chinese community classes begin week of Oct. 27

The Confucius Institute at the University of Iowa is offering beginning Mandarin Chinese community classes in the Quad Cities and Iowa City.

Classes begin in Bettendorf Tuesday, Oct. 28 at Rivermont Collegiate High School, 1821 Sunset Drive. Level one and two classes will meet from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays through Dec. 18.

Classes begin in Iowa City on Monday, Oct. 27 on the UI campus, 1100 University Capitol Centre. Level one classes will meet from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays through Dec. 17. Level two classes will meet from 7:15 to 8:45 p.m. through Dec. 17.

There is a $50 course fee plus a materials fee of $30 for first time enrollees. Level one classes are designed for adults and high school students without previous training in Mandarin Chinese.

Level two classes are designed for persons who have successfully completed a level one class or who have a comparable amount of past coursework in Mandarin Chinese.

Enrollment forms are available at http://international.uiowa.edu/confucius/courses/community-classes.asp

For more information contact Xiqing Zheng at 319-335-3857 or Rebecca Kessler at 319-335-0159 or confucius@uiowa.edu.

Labor rights in Thailand and Cambodia topic of lecture Oct. 20

Lon Moeller, clinical professor of management and organizations in the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business, and Marcella David, professor in the College of Law, will present "Labor Rights and Realities in Thailand and Cambodia" at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20 in the International Commons, 1117 University Capitol Centre.

David and Moeller visited apparel factories and factory workers in Thailand and Cambodia as part of a trip sponsored by the Workers Rights Consortium last spring. They will review the details of their trip and share observations about the working conditions of workers involved with the manufacture of university and college apparel.

The UI Center for Human Rights and UI International Programs sponsor the presentation. For more information, contact Amy Weismann at amy-weissmann@uiowa.edu or visit www.uichr.org.

McHugh, Porter to discuss ‘Brazil Rising’ at Oct. 20 International Mondays

Kristin McHugh, senior radio producer for the Stanley Foundation, and Keith Porter, executive radio producer for the Stanley Foundation, will present “Brazil Rising” as part of the International Mondays lecture series. The presentation takes place from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.

Brazil. It conjures up images of carnival, the beaches of Rio, “The Girl From Ipanema,” and the samba. But a new Brazil is emerging on the world stage. Brazil today is one of the fastest growing players in the global economy, a bio-fuels pioneer on the fast track to energy self-sufficiency, a booming haven for foreign investment, and a test case for a new approach to governance in Latin America. Can Brazil successfully chart a new path that overcomes the country’s grinding poverty and its tide of violent crime, while still preserving the country’s unique environment?

McHugh and Porter will talk about “Brazil Rising,” a new radio documentary that takes listeners on a personal journey across the country, exploring Brazil’s view of itself, its neighbors and the world.

Together, McHugh and Porter have produced a number of award-winning radio documentaries. Earlier this year, they won the National Press Club Award for Best International Reporting for their radio documentary “Beyond Fear: America’s Role in an Uncertain World.” This is the third year in a row they, along with Simon Marks, have won this award.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

U.S. foreign policy and human rights in Colombia focus of Oct. 13 lecture

University of Iowa students David Goodner and Megan Felt will present “Postmodern Conquistadors: the role of multinational corporations and U.S. foreign policy in the perpetuation of human rights violations in Colombia” as part of the International Mondays lecture series. The presentation takes place from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.

Goodner is a 27-year-old senior at the University of Iowa majoring in international studies with an emphasis in human rights. Felt is a 21-year-old UI junior with a double major in Spanish and anthropology. Goodner and Felt spent ten weeks this summer in rural Colombia as delegates with the human rights accompaniment organizations Witness For Peace, Christian Peacemaker Teams, and the Colombian NGO, Justicia y Paz.

“Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s ‘Democratic Security Policy’, financed by the U.S.-sponsored Plan Colombia, is essentially a war strategy against Colombia’s most vulnerable population sets - Afro-Colombians, campesinos, labor unionists, indigenous people, women, and the urban poor,” Goodner said.

“Uribe’s Democratic Security Policy sounds an awful lot like the ‘National Security Doctrines’ of Latin American dictators in the 1970s,” Felt added. “The idea is to violently suppress civil society in order to restructure the country’s rural landscape in preparation for transnational investment and the passing of the free trade agreement with the United States.”

Goodner and Felt are both members of the UI Antiwar Committee. Felt spent four months in the Fall of 2007 studying abroad in Costa Rica and has also traveled extensively throughout Cuba, Guatemala, and Panama. Goodner is a blogger for the Des Moines Register Young Adult Board of Contributors and has been quoted in the Nation Magazine and in a new biography of Republican adviser and strategist Karl Rove.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Rudman to discuss 'transitions in Middle East peace process' Oct. 15

Mara Rudman, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, will present "Transitions in the Middle East Peace Process" at a noon luncheon of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Wednesday, Oct. 15, at Old Brick Church, 26 E. Market St. in Iowa City. The National Security Network is also co-sponsoring this lecture.

Rudman advises Middle East Progress and works on national security policy. She is also president of Quorum Strategies LLC, an international strategic consulting firm. She served as deputy national security advisor to President Clinton and chief of staff for the National Security Council. Earlier in her career, she was chief counsel to the House Foreign Affairs Committee under Chairman Lee Hamilton. Rudman is on the board of the Middle East Investment Initiative and is a Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. She appears frequently as a media commentator on national security and foreign policy issues.

The Nile Valley will cater the event. Reservations are $7.50 for council members and $8.50 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is noon Friday, Oct. 10.

For more information call 319-335-0351 or visit http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/default.asp.

U.S.-Iran relations topic of Oct. 9 discussion

"Shaky Past, Uncertain Future: A discussion on U.S.-Iran Relations" will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9 in 1117 University Capitol Centre. The event will feature retired Col. Richard Klass, U.S. Air Force; retired Col. William Hauser, U.S. Army; and David E. Drake of Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility.

With rising tensions in the international arena and in the midst of a heated presidential election, experts in U.S.-Middle East defense and security policy -- as well as humanitarian issues -- will discuss the precarious relationship between the United States and Iran, how best to deal with the "Iranian threat," and the need for diplomacy between the two countries.

University of Iowa International Programs, The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and Physicians for Social Responsibility are sponsoring the event.

For more information contact Ashley Hoffman at ahoffman@armscontrolcenter.org.

Careers for Change lecture to focus on working in Washington, D.C. Oct. 9

Ashley Hoffman, an Iowa alumna and outreach coordinator at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, will speak at the University of Iowa at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9 in 1117 University Capitol Centre, as part of University of Iowa Center for Human Rights' Careers for Change speaker series.

During her talk with students, Hoffman will reflect on her experience and advice for working in activism and politics in Washington, D.C. Hoffman began her career at the World Security Institute in Washington D.C., where she coordinated public and media outreach and managed and edited publications on cross-cultural understanding. In her current position, she manages the center's Military Outreach Program, a national education program that brings retired military officers across the country to speak with community leaders, veterans, university students and the media about imminent foreign policy issues, mainly nuclear weapons, Iraq and Iran.

For more information or special accommodations to attend talk, contact the UI Center for Human Rights at 319-335-3900 or uichr@uiowa.edu.

UI Center for Human Rights to host film screenings in October

The UI Center for Human Rights (UICHR) will host a series of three film screenings in the month of October as a part of the One Community, One Book program. This year's selection is "A Long Way Gone," which tells the story of a former child soldier in Sierra Leone. The film series begins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 1 in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library with the screening of "War Dance," a story of civil war in Uganda.

The series continues at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 8 with the screening of "Africa: War is Business" in W151 Pappajohn Business Building. The last film, "Ezra," will be screened at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15 in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.

In addition to UICHR, sponsors include the African Studies Program and the UI Henry B. Tippie College of Business.

For more information visit http://www.uichr.org.

Cressey to discuss international terrorism at Oct. 6 International Mondays

Roger Cressey will present “International Terrorism” as part of the International Mondays lecture series. The presentation takes place from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 6, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.

Cressey has served in senior cyber security and counterterrorism positions in the Clinton and Bush administrations. He has been a crisis manager in Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans. He currently advises clients on homeland security, cyber security and counterterrorism issues and is an on-air counterterrorism analyst for NBC News.

Previously, Cressey served as Chief of Staff to the President’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board at the White House from November 2001 to September 2002. From November 1999 to November 2001, Mr. Cressey served as Director for Transnational Threats on the National Security Council staff, where he was responsible for coordination and implementation of U.S. counterterrorism policy. During this period, he managed the U.S. Government’s response to the Millennium terror alert, the USS COLE attack, and the September 11th attacks.

Prior to his White House service, Cressey served in the Department of Defense, including as Deputy Director for War Plans. From 1991–1995, he served in the Department of State working on Middle East Security issues. He has also served overseas with the U.S. Embassy in Israel and with United Nations peacekeeping missions in Somalia and the former Yugoslavia. While in the former Yugoslavia, he was part of a United Nations team that planned the successful capture of the first individual indicted for war crimes in Croatia.

Cressey received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and an M.A. in Security Policy Studies from The George Washington University. He has taught a graduate course on U.S. counterterrorism policy at Georgetown University.

Cressey is the recipient of the State Department’s Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards and the Defense Department’s Exceptional Civilian Service Award.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

September 2008

Ge and Hanson to share Beijing Olympics experiences at Sept. 29 International Mondays

Lini Ge, UI graduate student in professional journalism, and Jane Hanson, May 2008 graduate of the foreign language and ESL Education doctoral program, will present “Back from the Beijing Olympics: ‘It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience’” as part of the International Mondays lecture series. The presentation takes place from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.

The Iowa Olympic Ambassadors Project, organized by UI Professor Judy Polumbaum, gave 24 UI students the opportunity to experience the 2008 Beijing Olympics as media volunteers for the Olympic News Service. From the faculty coordinator, Jane Hanson, to the 24 media volunteers, each individual made the two-month adventure in Beijing meaningful. All participants strengthened professional skills through contacts with the international media. Many came to better understand their own culture while contrasting it with the other cultures encountered. In addition, interpersonal communication skills between group members grew. Volunteering at the Beijing Olympics also helped Lini Ge (a UI master’s student in journalism who is originally from China) gain new perspectives about her own culture and people.

Jane L. Hanson is a native of Nebraska, but has lived overseas and east of the Mississippi for much of her life. She graduated with a PhD in Foreign Language and ESL Education from The University of Iowa in May of 2008. She was faculty director for the Beijing Olympic Ambassadors Project at the Summer Olympics of 2008 in Beijing, China. Hanson has been a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, a Nebraska Regent’s Scholar, an Oklahoma Scholar-Leader, and a member of Omicron Delta Kappa. She is an avid reader, a weaver, and loves to learn about other cultures. She has two sons. Hanson’s second language is Spanish and she is studying Mandarin.

Lini Ge joined the master’s professional journalism program at the University of Iowa in July 2006. One month before that, she quit her job as a radio host and journalist at Fujian Provincial Radio Station in China, where she had worked for five years. Ge won the Shafer Family Trust Scholarship and Ruth and Morris Zweiban Memorial Scholarship in April 2008 and the Gazette Foundation Minority Journalism Scholarship in April 2007. Ge volunteered at the Main Press Center of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games this summer. Prior to her trip, Ge was awarded the Stanley Graduate Award for International Research for her master’s project.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

UI Center for Human Rights to host Night of 1,000 Conversations Sept. 25

The University of Iowa Center for Human Rights (UICHR) will host a discussion about how post-9/11 immigration policies of the U.S. government have affected individuals and communities locally and nationally. The discussion will be held from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, in Room 1117, University Capitol Center.

The discussion, which is free and open to the public, will focus particularly on six topics: United States immigration policies, the experiences of documented and undocumented immigrants in Iowa, the recent immigration raids in Iowa and their effects on the community, the process of immigration trials, and immigration detention in the United States.

This event is part of the national Night of 1000 Conversations, convened by the Rights Working Group. For more information or a complete schedule, see http://international.uiowa.edu/centers/human-rights/.

IP seeks nominations for second annual Outstanding International Achievement awards

In celebration of the ninth annual International Education Week, International Programs is proud to announce that we are seeking nominations for the second annual Outstanding International Achievement awards.

Each year, the University of Iowa recognizes two individuals – one UI student and one community member – for their significant contributions and accomplishments in advancing international understanding and education to the campus, community, state and beyond.
Nominations are due by Friday, Oct. 10 by 5 p.m.

UI student nomination form
Community member nomination form

All nominees, nominators, and award winners will be invited to the International Education Week awards ceremony, which will take place on Friday, Nov. 21 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

For more information on International Education Week, see: http://iew.state.gov/.

A calendar of events taking place on the UI campus will be posted to the International Programs web site in late October.

Fehér kicks-off the International Mondays lecture series discussing Transatlantic diplomacy on Sept. 22

Zoltán Fehér, Chief Creative Officer and Press Attaché at the Embassy of Hungary in Washington, D.C, will present “From Back Channels to “The Colbert Report”: The Changing Face of Transatlantic Diplomacy in the 21st Century” as part of the International Mondays lecture series. The presentation takes place from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 22, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.

For much of the 20th century, the often uneasy relations between European countries and the United States were not only conducted on the formal governmental level, but they were also shaped through backdoor dealings. The ideological struggle of the Cold War and its attendant cultural propaganda warfare actually necessitated such parallel maneuvers. After the end of the Cold War, the countries of Central Europe had free reign in shaping their own relations with the United States, and even after joining the European Union, they have retained considerable agency in this field. As a result, these young democracies have been eager to strengthen their ties with the United States even in new, experimental forms of diplomacy.

Drawing on his own experience of rising through the ranks of the Hungarian diplomatic corps in Washington, D.C., Zoltán Fehér will identify and define the pioneering new forms of transatlantic diplomacy ranging from the representations of national cultures, art and history through film festivals and museum exhibitions to the creative use of the potential of U.S. mass media for cultural diplomacy (such as the former Hungarian ambassador's several appearances on “The Colbert Report”) to the diplomatic use of the “new media” such as the Internet and blogging. In his presentation, Fehér hopes to challenge his audience to think outside the box of conventional international relations and identify and pursue alternative and new forms of cultural relations including public/civil diplomacy, cultural exchange, media diplomacy, and intercultural communications through music. Deploying such practices would help redefine both the (shattered) image of the United States in the world and the tools of promoting American interests abroad - for a new understanding of international relations in the 21st century.

Dubbed “the rising star of transatlantic diplomatic relations,” Zoltán Fehér is Chief Creative Officer and Press Attaché at the Embassy of Hungary in Washington, D.C. Fehér holds Master's degrees in Political Science and American Studies from Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary, and a Law degree from Pazmany Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary. He has studied as a Kellner Scholar at Bard College, New York. The former president of a Hungarian NGO which discusses current issues with the country's young intelligentsia, Fehér has taught Political Science and International Relations courses at Hungarian universities, and has published on comparative government, U.S. foreign policy and Transatlantic relations.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

'Afghanistan: The Forgotten War' topic of Schneider's Sept. 24 noon luncheon

Mark Schneider, senior vice president and special adviser on Latin America for the International Crisis Group, will present "Afghanistan: The Forgotten War" at a noon luncheon of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Wednesday, Sept. 24 at Old Brick Church, 26 E. Market St in Iowa City. The National Security Network is also co-sponsoring the lecture.

Schneider joined the International Crisis Group in spring 2001. He directs the Washington advocacy office, conveying Crisis Group analyses and recommendations to the White House, the State Department, the Department of Defense and Congress, as well as the World Bank and other international organizations. He also serves as special adviser on Latin America and HIV/AIDS and security.

Oasis Falafel will cater the event. Reservations are $7.50 for council members and $8.50 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is noon Monday, Sept. 22.

For more information call 319-335-0352 or visit http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/default.asp.

International Crossroads Community hosts annual open house Sept. 14

The International Crossroads Community (ICC) is hosting its annual open house from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14, in Mayflower Hall 8CD. The open house will feature cuisine, culture, arts and crafts, a brief show and more. Students from all over the world, including Thailand, South Korea, China, France, the United States, Netherlands and Russia are living in the ICC living/learning community this year to promote international understanding, friendship and learning.

For more information visit http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/about/news.asp or http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/international-crossroads-community.asp.

Ludes to discuss American national security at Sept. 15 luncheon

James Ludes, executive director of the American Security Project, will present "American National Security: Looking Beyond the Military" at a noon luncheon of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Monday, Sept. 15, at the Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A.

For those unable to attend, WSUI-AM 910 will carry the program at Sunday, September 21st at 9 p.m. on the Iowa Public Radio network. City Channel 4 will also record the program for re-broadcast; check local cable listings for schedules.

For more information see http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/events.asp, or call 335-0351.

Iowa City Foreign Relations Council lecture explores China's future Sept. 8

Robert Scher, an associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm, will present "China on the Rise: What's Next?" at a noon luncheon of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Monday, Sept. 8 at Old Brick Church, 26 E. Market St in Iowa City. The National Security Network is also co-sponsoring this lecture.

With more than 17 years of experience in Asian bilateral security alliances and partnerships with the Departments of Defense and State, Scher will focus on questions regarding the future relationship with the United States as China emerges as an economic and geopolitical rival.

At Booz Allen Hamilton, Scher is a part of the International Defense Cooperation and International Ministries of Defense practices in Washington D.C., where he focuses on providing assistance to Asian nations on improving their defense and national security decision-making analysis and processes. He also works as a consultant.

Taste of China will cater the event. Reservations are $7.50 for council members and $8.50 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is noon Friday, Sept. 5.

For more information visit http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/default.asp.

August 2008

July 2008

Heaphy to speak on American foreign policy, International Criminal Court July 17

Matthew Heaphy, deputy convener of the American Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition for the International Criminal Court, will present "American Foreign Policy and the International Criminal Court" at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, July 17. The program will take place in 2520D University Capitol Centre, on the second floor of the Old Capitol Town Center, and is hosted by the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council, the Iowa United Nations Association and Linn County Amnesty International. This talk is free and open to the public. No reservation is required.

For more information, visit http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/events.asp.

Open forum features specialist from Democratic Republic of Congo July 11

The Council for International Visitors to Iowa Cities (CIVIC), a community organization that is part of UI International Programs, is hosting a brown bag lunch open forum from noon to 1 pm. Friday, July 11, in the University Capitol Centre Commons (Room 1117). Hilaire Mputu, UNESCO Program Specialist in Education Strategies and Capacity Building from the Democratic Republic of Congo, will join in a roundtable discussion with CIVIC board member Newman Abuissa. Mputu is visiting Iowa City as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program.

For more information about Mputu and his trip visit http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/civic/events.asp.

June 2008

Gringer to discuss Armenia at July 10 Foreign Relations Council luncheon

Jeff Gringer, a member of the U.S. Foreign Service originally from Iowa City, will present "A Vice-Consul's Armenia: Yerevan in the rearview mirror" at a noon luncheon of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Thursday, July 10, at Rockwood Fellowship Hall, Congregational Church, 30 N. Clinton St. in Iowa City.

The Red Avocado will cater the event. Reservations are $7.50 for council members and $8.50 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is by noon Thursday, July 3. For those unable to attend, WSUI-AM 910 will carry the program at 9 p.m. Sunday, July 13, on the Iowa Public Radio network.

For more information see http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/events.asp.

'German Foreign Policy under Chancellor Merkel' focus of June 26 luncheon

Klaus Rupprecht, director of the Canadian Center for German and European Studies at York University in Toronto, will present "German Foreign Policy under Chancellor Merkel" at a noon luncheon of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Thursday, June 26, at Rockwood Fellowship Hall, Congregational Church, 30 N. Clinton St. in Iowa City.

The Red Avocado will cater the event. Reservations are $7.50 for council members and $8.50 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is noon Thursday, June 19. For those unable to attend, WSUI-AM 910 will carry the program at 9 p.m. Sunday, June 29, on the Iowa Public Radio network. For more information see http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/events.asp

May 2008

Baldridge to reflect on career at Iowa City Foreign Relations Council May 15

Tom Baldridge, recently retired executive director of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council and the Council for International Visitors to Iowa Cities, will reflect on the history of the council and his 20-year term with the council at noon Thursday, May 15, at the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Luncheon. The lunch and lecture will be held in the Rockwood Fellowship Hall on the Congregational Church, 30 N. Clinton Street in Iowa City. The lecture is sponsored by UI International Programs with support from U.S. Bank.

John's Grocery will cater the luncheon, and reservations must be received in the office by noon Tuesday, May 13. The cost is $7.50 for council members and $8.50 for nonmembers.

For more information or special accommodations to attend, call 319-335-0351.

For more information on the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council, see http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/.

International Studies honors three UI professors May 16

Three University of Iowa professors will be honored with the 2008 International Studies Outstanding Faculty Mentor Awards. John Conybeare, UI professor of political science; Rex Honey, professor of geography; and Brian Lai, associate professor of political science, all in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, are this year's recipients. The three, who are also UI International Programs affiliated faculty, will be recognized at the spring 2008 International Studies Bachelor of Arts graduation reception Friday, May 16.

Each semester, faculty members work with international studies students on a one-on-one basis as mentors for their international studies senior project or honors thesis. The faculty members are being honored for their willingness to devote their time and expertise to working individually with students. Conybeare, Honey and Lai have consistently worked with a high number of students every semester, and they are being honored for their exceptional commitment and contributions to International Studies students.

For more information on the international studies major, see http://international.uiowa.edu/international-studies/.

April 2008

UI student wins Weston International Human Rights Essay Competition

The University of Iowa Center for Human Rights recently announced the winner of the annual Burns H. Weston International Human Rights Essay Prize.

The $1,000 prize in the graduate and professional student category went to UI student Rebecca Bowman for her essay "Lubanga, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the African Court: Lessons Learned from the First International Criminal Court Case." Bowman is a dual-degree student originally from Monticello, Iowa. She is pursuing a Juris Doctorate in law in the UI College of Law and a doctorate in higher education in the UI College of Education.

The competition is intended to promote understanding and the continuing advancement of international human rights, as well as honor Weston, the former and founding director of the UICHR and an internationally renowned scholar in international human rights law.

For more information visit http://international.uiowa.edu/centers/human-rights/.

Immigration Law topic of April 24 Iowa City Foreign Relations Council luncheon

Cheryl Mason, an attorney with Mason and Gager, PLC in Iowa City, will present "Immigration Law in the New 'ICE' (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Age" at a noon luncheon of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Thursday, April 24 at Rockwood Fellowship Hall, Congregational Church, 30 N. Clinton St. in Iowa City.

The Cottage will cater the event. Reservations are $7.50 for council members and $8.50 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is noon Tuesday, April 22. For those unable to attend, WSUI-AM 910 will carry the program at 9 p.m. Sunday, April 27, on the Iowa Public Radio network.

For more information, see http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/events.asp.

Annual Latin dance festival, Gusto Latino, to take place April 18

The University of Iowa International Crossroads Community will hold its annual Latin dance festival, Gusto Latino, from 7 p.m. to midnight Friday, April 18, in the second floor ballroom of the Iowa Memorial Union. Dance lessons will be offered from 7 to 8 p.m. and a dance contest will take place later that night. Live music will be provided by Orquesta de Jazz y Salsa Alto Maiz, an 11-piece Latin jazz dance band featuring local musicians.

For more information or for special accommodations to attend this event, contact Amy Green at 319-335-1433 or amy-green-1@uiowa.edu or visit http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/about/news.asp.

'Americans in Italian Opera' focus of Opera Studies Group lecture April 18

The University of Iowa Opera Studies Group will host Pierpaolo Polzonetti, assistant professor in the Program of Liberal Studies of the University of Notre Dame, as part of the "America and The Operatic Tradition" Lecture Series. Polzonetti will present "Quakers and Cowboys: Americans in Italian Opera from Piccinni to Puccini" at 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 18, in Gerber Lounge, English-Philosophy Building.

For more information, visit http://international.uiowa.edu/centers/opera-studies/.

Global Health Studies Conference explores issues in international health care

Students, faculty and invited speakers will examine issues surrounding health care in an international context during the annual Global Health Studies Program Conference Friday, April 11, through Sunday, April 13, in the Richey Ballroom of the Iowa Memorial Union. The UI Global Health Studies Program and University of Iowa International Programs are conference sponsors.

This year's conference, "Health and Health Care -- Rights and Responsibilities in Global Perspective," will focus on the relationship between health and health care, including an examination of factors that determine health and the consequences of considering health as a human right rather than a commodity to be purchased.

"Health and Health Care -- Rights and Responsibilities in Global Perspective" is both a course and a conference. The conference will feature moderated faculty and student panels. More than 20 scholars from five countries, and UI students pursuing the Global Health Studies Certificate will share their insights and research in panels.

For a complete schedule, visit http://international.uiowa.edu/centers/global-health/events/.

For more information, contact Heidi Vekemans, International Programs events coordinator, at heidi-vekemans@uiowa.edu or 319-335-3862.

'Dealing with North Korea' focus of Schiffer's April 9 luncheon talk

Michael Schiffer, a program officer in Policy Analysis and Dialogue at the Stanley Foundation in Muscatine, will present "Dealing with North Korea: What Next?" at a noon luncheon of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Wednesday, April 9 at Rockwood Fellowship Hall, Congregational Church, 30 N. Clinton St. in Iowa City.

Taste of China will cater the event. Reservations are $7.50 for council members and $8.50 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is noon Friday, April 4. For those unable to attend, WSUI-AM 910 will carry the program at 9 p.m. Sunday, April 13 on the Iowa Public Radio network.

For more information see http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/events.asp.

UI hosts Slavic Bazaar at Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center April 6

The University of Iowa Center for Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies and International Programs will host their annual Slavic Bazaar from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 6 at the Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center, 220 S. Gilbert St., Iowa City.

Attendees can sample authentic Slavic food and listen to performances by the Bosnian dance group Sevdah from Des Moines. UI Russian language students and Bosnian and Czech students will perform as well. For a complete schedule visit http://international.uiowa.edu/centers/creees/.

For more information contact Heidi Vekemans at heidi-vekemans@uiowa.edu or 319-335-3862.

Stanley International Programs/Obermann Center fellows to discuss work April 7

William Davies, University of Iowa linguistics professor, and William LaRue Jones, professor in the UI School of Music, will present their work during an informal talk from 3:30 to 5 p.m., Monday, April 7 in 1117 University Capitol Centre. Davies and LaRue are the Spring 2008 Stanley International Programs/Obermann Center Research Fellows. The event is hosted by UI International Programs and the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies.

Jones' research focuses on Chinese-Western Fusion Concerti. Davies' current research focuses on the Madurese language, spoken by over 14 million speakers in Indonesia. These talks are free and the public is welcome to attend and to enjoy light refreshments.

March 2008

Giblin to discuss Kenyan crisis at March 31 International Mondays

James Giblin, a UI professor of African history, will present "The Crisis in Kenya: An Historical Perspective" as part of the International Mondays lecture series. The presentation takes place from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, March 31, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library. The lecture is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

For more information visit http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/international-mondays or call Amy Green at 319-335-1433 or amy-green-1@uiowa.edu.

Honey to discuss 'Transitions in Modern Muslim Societies' at April 3 luncheon

Rex Honey, UI professor of geography and international studies, will present "Transitions in Modern Muslim Societies" at a noon luncheon of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Thursday, April 3, at Rockwood Fellowship Hall, Congregational Church, 30 N. Clinton St. in Iowa City.

The Cottage will cater the event. Reservations are $7.50 for council members and $8.50 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is noon Monday, March 31. For those unable to attend, WSUI-AM 910 will carry the program at 9 p.m. Sunday, April 6, on the Iowa Public Radio network.

For more information see http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/events.asp.

Baby trafficking topic of March 24 International Mondays

Patty Meier and Xiaole “Joy” Zhang, UI law students, will present “Sold Into Adoption: The Hunan Baby Trafficking Scandal Exposes Vulnerabilities in Chinese Adoptions to the United States” as part of the International Mondays lecture series. The presentation takes place from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, March 24, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.

Meier and Zhang will talk about the Hunan baby trafficking scandal that was uncovered in late 2005. In the incident, the Chinese government prosecuted a number of orphanage officials and private individuals for their involvement in a child trafficking scheme that profited from placing trafficked children for inter-country adoption and collecting mandatory $3,000 donations from adopting parents. The story surprised many in the adoption community because China’s program of inter-country adoption had been thought to be nearly scandal proof to that point.

Meier is a mid-career law student at the University of Iowa. She worked as a writer and editor in Iowa, Washington, D.C., Illinois and Colorado before entering law school. She is also a mother to three children, one of whom was adopted from China in 2003.

Zhang is a second-year law student at the University of Iowa. She received her Bachelor of Law degree from the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), in Beijing, China. Before pursuing her Juris Doctorate, Zhang completed her Master’s of Law in International and Comparative Law from the University of Iowa College of Law in May 2005.

University of Iowa International Programs, Iowa City Public Library, and the Stanley-UI Foundation Support Organization sponsor the presentation.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. For more information visit contact Amy Green at 319-335-1433 or amy-green-1@uiowa.edu.

Opera Studies Group hosts Saylor for March 7 lecture

The UI Opera Studies Group, in collaboration with the School of Music Musicology and Theory Colloquium, will host Eric Saylor, assistant professor of music history at Drake University, as part of the “America and The Operatic Tradition” Lecture Series. Saylor will present "'I don't believe in realism': Imagining the African-American in Frederick Delius's Koanga" at 1:30 p.m. March 7 in Voxman Music Building, Room 1027.

Summary of the talk

Although not widely known, Frederick Delius's opera Koanga (1904) taps into the late romantic fascination with the exotic while raising complex issues about racial and class representation. The opera's white antagonists use chromatic, rhythmically flexible, and virtuosic musical idioms reminiscent of Wagner or Puccini, while the antebellum Louisiana plantation setting allows choruses of slaves to be assigned African-American folk songs that reflect clichés of musical exoticism. However, the black protagonists Koanga (a voodoo high priest) and Palmyra (the quadroon attendant and stepsister of the plantation owner's wife) occupy a higher social status than their fellow slaves, and their musical styles are indistinguishable from those of the white characters. Hence, their musical and dramatic characters are destabilizing forces: they are not only "exotic," but unpredictable, and therefore dangerous to the status quo. At the same time, both Koanga and Palmyra are always at the mercy of powers greater than themselves, both physically and metaphysically. While Delius's music treats Koanga and Palmyra as individuals worthy of operatic heroism, George Keary's libretto essentializes both characters into archetypes unable to exploit the power they possess. In this way, both race and class are subsumed beneath the musico-dramatic conventions of late nineteenth-century opera, where fate holds sway over all. Such a reading may also help us to better understand Delius, an English composer whose musical practices and interests diverged from the professional artistic conventions of fin-de-siècle British musical society.

Biographical Information

Eric Saylor is Assistant Professor of Music History at Drake University, where he has taught since 2003. He received an M.A. in Musicology from Arizona State University and a Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Michigan. Dr. Saylor's area of specialization is British music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, particularly the life and works of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Frederick Delius. During 1998-99, Dr. Saylor served as an editorial assistant at the British Library, helping collect, transcribe, and annotate Vaughan Williams's complete correspondence, to be published by Oxford University Press in fall 2008. He has presented papers for, among other groups, the Society of American Music, the American Musicological Society, the International Conference on Twentieth-Century Music, the International Nineteenth-Century Studies Conference, and the North American British Music Studies Association, for which he currently serves as Secretary. He has articles forthcoming in Nineteenth-Century Music Review and Musik Konzepte, and is contributing co-editor for Operatic Blackness, a collection of essays to be published by the University of Illinois Press. His other areas of interest include music and politics, the historiography of English music, and shape-note hymnody.

Natural disasters in Bangladesh topic of March 10 International Mondays

Luke Juran, a University of Iowa doctoral student in geography, will present “Coping with Natural Disasters in Bangladesh” as part of the International Mondays lecture series. The presentation takes place from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, March 10, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.

Juran will present information on how Bangladesh and Bangladeshis cope with frequent and various forms of natural disasters. Juran was a participant in a group research project to Bangladesh in summer 2007 with the Geographic Alliance of Iowa, which was funded by a grant from Fulbright-Hays. He will weave Bangladesh's coping mechanisms with issues of culture, gender and politics.

Juran received his B.A. in social science secondary education with minors in economics, geography and history from the University of Northern Iowa. He completed his student teaching requirements in Rome and then taught for two and a half years at the American International School of Jeddah, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Juran is completing his master’s degree in international studies from the UI. His thesis focuses on critically analyzing the impacts of microfinance on health, agriculture and women’s empowerment in Tamil Nadu, India. He is currently a doctoral student in geography, focusing on natural disaster response in South Asia and in Tamil Nadu, specifically. He is interested in how politics, policies, local economies and socio-cultural variables and contexts affect natural disaster response and are affected by the natural disaster itself. For this research Juran has received funding from Rotary International as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and from the Crossing Borders program as a Crossing Borders Fellow.

University of Iowa International Programs, Iowa City Public Library, Iowa City Foreign Relations Council and the Stanley-UI Foundation Support Organization sponsor Juran’s presentation.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. For more information visit contact Amy Green at 319-335-1433 or amy-green-1@uiowa.edu.

February 2008

 

UNICEF ambassador to discuss children's human rights at March 5 forum

Angélique Kidjo, Afro-pop singer and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, will take part in a Children's Human Rights Forum at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, in the Old Capitol Senate Chamber. Shel Stromquist, UI professor of history, will serve as forum facilitator.

Originally from Benin, Kidjo travels the world as a UNICEF ambassador, speaking out on behalf of children who have been forced to become soldiers in various African wars. The forum is free and open to the public.

For more information and other events featuring Kidjo, visit http://international.uiowa.edu/centers/human-rights/.

 

Mid-Prairie Home School students will learn about Kenyan culture Feb. 29

A UI program will help the students of Mid-Prairie Home School in Kalona learn about Kenyan life and culture Feb. 29.

Vivian Ochola, a UI student from Kenya pursuing a graduate degree in clinical nursing, will speak to students through the UI International Programs' International Classroom Journey (ICJ). The presentation will take place from 10 to 10:30 a.m. Ochola’s presentation is part of the school’s International Day, which is focusing on the continent of Africa. Ochola will talk about life and culture in Kenya to a group of 65 kindergarten through 9th graders.

The ICJ, which is sponsored by UI International Programs, arranges for guest speakers to visit K-12 classrooms and community groups to promote cultural awareness and knowledge of other countries. These guest speakers are trained international students and scholars and U.S. students who have spent time abroad.

For more information, contact Amy Green, 319-335-1433, amy-green-1@uiowa.edu.

 

Wilton high school students will learn about Africa Feb. 29

Students at Wilton High School in Wilton will learn about Africa through a UI program Feb. 29.

Almaz Getachew, a doctoral student in rehabilitation counseling, will speak with teacher Shannon McDonald’s class through the UI International Programs' International Classroom Journey (ICJ). The presentation takes place from 1 to 1:45 p.m. Getachew lived in Ethiopia until she was 10 before moving to the U.S. Her presentation will supplement what the students have been learning about Africa as part of Black History Month.

The ICJ, which is sponsored by UI International Programs, arranges for guest speakers to visit K-12 classrooms and community groups to promote cultural awareness and knowledge of other countries. These guest speakers are trained international students and scholars and U.S. students who have spent time abroad.

For more information, contact Amy Green, 319-335-1433, amy-green-1@uiowa.edu.

 

Laurenti to discuss 'The Middle East after Iraq' at Feb. 28 luncheon

Jeff Laurenti, senior fellow and director of Foreign Policy Programs at The Century Foundation, will present "The Middle East After Iraq: Is the United Nations Still Relevant? Is the United States?” at a noon luncheon of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Thursday, Feb. 28, at Rockwood Fellowship Hall, Congregational Church, 30 N. Clinton St. in Iowa City. The Cottage will cater the event. Reservations are $7.50 for council members and $8.50 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is noon Tuesday, Feb. 26. For those unable to attend, WSUI-AM 910 will carry the program at 9 p.m. Sunday, March 2, on the Iowa Public Radio network.

For more information see http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/events.asp.

 

Burns H. Weston Funded Internship created

The University of Iowa Center for Human Rights has established a new program with the UI College of Law -- the Burns H. Weston Funded Internship -- to fund a UI College of Law student to intern with Human Rights Watch in New York City and South Africa for the summer of 2008. Preference will be given to students who are affiliated with the UI Center for Human Rights. The deadline for both applications is 5 p.m., March 15, 2008.

For application material or for more information, visit http://international.uiowa.edu/centers/human-rights/ or contact Amy Weismann, 319-335-0483, amy-weismann@uiowa.edu.

 

Hoover elementary students will learn about Indonesia Feb. 22

Third grade students at Hoover Elementary School in West Branch will learn about Indonesia through a UI program Feb. 22.

Anastasia Dewi, a Foreign Language Teaching Assistant from Indonesia, will speak with teacher Jacqui Hart’s class through the UI International Programs' International Classroom Journey (ICJ). The presentation, which takes place from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., is part of Hoover’s “Games Around the World” Diversity Day celebration.

The ICJ, which is sponsored by UI International Programs, arranges for guest speakers to visit K-12 classrooms and community groups to promote cultural awareness and knowledge of other countries. These guest speakers are trained international students and scholars and U.S. students who have spent time abroad.

Contact: Amy Green, 319-335-1433, amy-green-1@uiowa.edu.

 

Kalona elementary students will learn about Chinese culture Feb. 25

A University of Iowa program will help kindergarten students at Kalona Elementary School in Kalona learn about Chinese culture and the Chinese New Year celebration Feb. 25.

Yi Chen, a UI student from China pursuing a graduate degree in educational policy and leadership studies from the College of Education, will speak with teacher Vanessa Spring’s class through the UI International Programs' International Classroom Journey (ICJ). The presentation will take place from 2 to 2:30 p.m. in Spring’s classroom.

The ICJ, which is sponsored by UI International Programs, arranges for guest speakers to visit K-12 classrooms and community groups to promote cultural awareness and knowledge of other countries. These guest speakers are trained international students and scholars and U.S. students who have spent time abroad.

For more information, contact Amy Green, IP Outreach secretary at 319-335-1433 or amy-green-1@uiowa.edu.

 

'International mobility' topic of Feb. 25 International Mondays lecture

Éva Tessza Udvarhelyi will present “Leaving My Comforts Behind Made Me a Better Person: How International Mobility Changes Lives and Your World” as part of the International Mondays lecture series. The presentation takes place from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.

In her presentation, Udvarhelyi will discuss culture shock’s unimaginable potential for personal and communal learning. According to Tessza, consciously-lived intercultural experiences can lead people to find a greater balance within themselves and in the social world around them.

Udvarhelyi holds a master’s degree in cultural anthropology and is completing her thesis in American studies at ELTE University in Budapest, Hungary. She is currently a doctoral student at the Environmental Psychology Program of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Udvarhelyi is author of “Travelers Across Cultures: A Guide to Intercultural Learning for Young Adults Traveling Abroad.” Between 1999 and 2007 Udvarhelyi worked as a trainer, youth worker and project coordinator in intercultural pedagogy at Artemisszió Foundation, a Budapest-based NGO.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. For more information or special accommodations, contact Amy Green, International Programs outreach secretary, at 319-335-1433 or amy-green-1@uiowa.edu

UI International Programs, the Iowa City Public Library and the UI-Stanley Support Foundation sponsor Udvarhelyi’s lecture.

 

Center for Human Rights hosts film screening on U.S. retail industry labor practices Feb. 19

The UI Center for Human Rights (UICHR) and the University of Iowa Labor Center will host a community screening of the film, “Made in L.A.”at 7 p.m. on Feb. 19, at 101 Biology Building East (BBE). The screening, made possible by Active Voice and the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights (MCHR), is free and open to the public.

The film will be followed by a discussion with Almudena Carracedo, the director of the film, and/or Robert Bahar, the producer of the film.

“Made in L.A.” chronicles the story of three Latina immigrants – Lupe, Maura and María – working in sweatshops in Los Angeles. These three women, along with other immigrant workers, come together at L.A.'s Garment Worker Center to take a stand for their rights. The workers launch a very public challenge -- a lawsuit and a boycott -- to one of the city's flagship clothiers and embark on a three-year struggle to win basic labor protections from the clothing retailer, Forever 21.

The film will be screened in English and Spanish with bilingual subtitles. “Made in L.A.” is a co-production of Semilla Verde Productions, Inc., the Independent Television Service (ITVS) and P.O.V.’s Diverse Voices Project, which is made possible through major funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It is a co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting.

In an effort to develop public consciousness about worker and immigrant rights, MCHR and UICHR will provide educational materials and a panel discussion at the screening, along with opportunities to get involved in MCHR’s “Slow Down the Line” Campaign to raise awareness about labor rights in the meatpacking industry of the Midwest.

For more information about MCHR, visit midwesthumanrights.org. For more information n about Active Voice, visit activevoice.net. For more information about the screening, contact Amy Weismann at amy-weismann@uiowa.edu or 319-335-3900.

 

Campbell to discuss slavery and Brown University Feb. 18

James Campbell, professor of Africana Studies and American Studies at
Brown University and chair of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, will present “Navigating the Past: Slavery, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and Brown University” at 7 p.m., Monday, February 18, 2008 in 107 EPB.

In 2003, Brown University President Ruth Simmons appointed a Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice. The committee of faculty members, undergraduate and graduate students and administrators was charged to investigate and report on the university’s historical relationship to slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. It was also asked to help the campus and the nation reflect on the meaning of this history in the present, on the complex historical, political, legal and moral questions posed by any present-day confrontation with past injustice.

Beginning with the committee’s discovery of a detailed ship’s log of the founding family’s disastrous expedition to capture slaves in Africa to the conversion of one family member to the anti-slavery movement, the committee’s “report” traces a path from a violent past to a new spirit of public engagement. The extensive archive produced by this dramatic example of “public scholarship” can be seen online.

“The work of professor Campbell and the other members of the committee demonstrates the powerful role the humanities can play in helping communities question the inevitability of social injustice. By studying the history and culture of one university, the committee documented the continuing effects of slavery on the institution, the students and staff, and the surrounding community. Most remarkably, the interdisciplinary, international research of the Committee on Slavery and Justice laid the foundation for genuine social change,” said Teresa Mangum, director of the English and International Programs of the 18th and 19th Century Interdisciplinary Colloquium (ENCIC). “As professor Campbell will explain in his talk, Brown University has chosen to use the resources of the university to address the inequities and disparities that remained as a complex legacy of the enslavement of Africans. It would be hard to find a more moving argument for the public engagement of the humanities and of universities.”

Campbell’s research focuses on African American history and on the wider history of the Black Atlantic. He is currently working on two books, a study of the role of Africa in the life and thought of the pioneering pan-African scholar and activist, W.E.B. Du Bois, and a history of the "Americanization" of South Africa. He has also been involved with a range of public history and curricular projects, including projects focusing on race and the American Revolution, the history of the Rhode Island Slave Trade, and the Civil Rights Movement. Most recently he has collaborated with Susan Smulyan of Brown's Department of American Civilization and Ernie Limbo of Tougaloo College in creating "Freedom Now!", a Web site exploring the history of the Mississippi Freedom Movement.

Campbell’s talk is among a 2007-2008 lecture series “Race and Rights in the 18th and 19th Centuries” hosted by ENCIC, which brings visiting scholars in diverse disciplinary areas to campus. The event is co-sponsored by the UI International Programs, Departments of English, French and Italian, and History, School of Art and Art History, African Studies Program, Caribbean, Diaspora, and Atlantic Studies, European Studies Group, and Center for Human Rights.

ENCIC is also hosting a lecture at 7 p.m., Monday, April 21, 2008 in 116 ABW. Martial Guédron, professor of Art History at Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg, France will present “Nature, Ideal, and Caricature: The Perception of Physical Types by the First Anthropologists.”

For more information regarding the two lectures, contact teresa-mangum@uiowa.edu.

 

Kanna to speak on ‘Forgotten Globalizations’ Feb. 19

Ahmed Kanna, International Programs postdoctoral fellow will present “Forgotten Globalizations: The View from the Contemporary Arabo-Persian Gulf” at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19 in the International Commons (1117 UCC).

Description of Talk:

What do we mean when speak about ‘globalization’?  Is this an economic, a political, a cultural phenomenon?  Does it originate in a specific culture, geographic locale, or social group? Do we implicitly assume that one version is the only version?  In this paper, I focus on the contemporary Arabo-Persian Gulf region to look at different globalizations, ones usually ignored in the journalistic and scholarly literature.  

By looking especially at the coastal Gulf, a picture emerges of a transnational world connecting the Arab world, Iran, Africa, and South Asia through centuries of commercial, linguistic, imperial, and commercial contact. More recently, the region has filtered this pluralism through connections further afield, to East Asia, Southern Africa, and North America.  What we mean by globalization, in short, crucially depends on where we are geographically situated, where we are looking from, and our privilege and power to define that globalization as universal.  

 

Opera Studies Group hosts Pisani for Feb. 21 lecture

The UI Opera Studies Group will host Michael Pisani, associate professor of music at Vassar College, as part of the “America and The Operatic Tradition” Lecture Series. Pisani will present “Tunes for Damsels, Villains, and Heroes: Music as Medium and Message in 19th-Century British and American Theatre” at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 21 in Gerber Lounge, English-Philosophy Building.

Description of Talk:

Most of the plays produced by the major English-language popular theatres of the 19th century had music, from British "nautical dramas" like“The Flying Dutchman or Black-Eyed Susan,” to swashbucklers like“The Corsican Brothers” or “The Prisoner of Zenda,” to Civil War-themed dramas such as“The Heart of Maryland” or“Secret Service,” and including, of course, grand productions of Shakespeare by the likes of Edwin Booth and Henry Irving. Why did these productions rely so heavily on dramatic music, much more so than legitimate theatre ever did in the 20th century? Was it because 19th-century theatre, even the most realistic drama, served a need for the irrational world of fantasy and illusion?

A recreation of 19th-century plays--using source documents such as actual music played by the musicians in the pit--will go a long way toward proving that audiences then as now needed the emotional and psychological contextualization that only music can provide. It also reveals that this form of dramatic music in the 20th century simply moved over to the more popular medium of the cinema, leaving drama a far more austere and literary art-form than most 19th-century actors and producers would have ever imagined.

Pisani is author of“Imagining Native America in Music” (Yale Univ. Press, 2005) and an associate professor of music at Vassar College. He is on the editorial boards of MUSA (Music of the United States of America), Nineteenth-Century Theatre and Film, and The Film Music Journal.  This past year he gave several radio interviews and lectures relating to his recent book.  He also participated in a research symposium at the Getty Museum, Los Angeles, along with anthropologists, historians, and film experts on the restoration of a silent film (with full musical accompaniment) of Edward Sheriff Curtis's In the Land of the Headhunters (1914).  He has a chapter on "Music in the Theatre" in the Cambridge Companion to Victorian and Edwardian Theatre and is writing a book on the subject for the University of Iowa Press.

 

CIVIC to host community potluck for international visitors Feb. 17

The UI Council for International Visitors to Iowa Cities is hosting a potluck from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17 in the International Commons, Room 1117 of the University Capitol Centre in downtown Iowa City. The potluck will bring together community members, UI student leaders and 11 student visitors from Tokyo Denki University. Those interested in participating should RSVP by Friday, Feb. 15 to Pat Kelley at 319-351-4492 or vkelley279@msn.com. Please bring a main dish, salad or dessert. For more information visit http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/civic/events.asp

 

Peruvian footbridge construction topic of Feb. 11 International Mondays

Irund A-Wan, a UI senior civil and environmental engineering major, will present "Footbridge Design (Incorporating a Participative Approach)" as part of the International Mondays lecture series from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.

A-Wan will discuss his final engineering design project, which was to construct a footbridge for the villagers in a remote area of southeastern Peru. His goal was to incorporate local participatory methods of construction while also involving the local communities in the entire bridge process. This lecture is free and open to the public. For more information see http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/international-mondays.asp.

 

January 2008

 

Dr. Michele Yehieli to talk on Immigrant Health and the Iowa Center on Health Disparities

Dr. Michele Yehieli, the Associate Professor in the Division of Health Promotion and Education at the University of Northern Iowa and Executive Director of the Iowa EXPORT Center of Excellence on Health Disparities, will visit the University of Iowa on Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 12:15pm – 1:00pm  in 256 General Hospital, as part of University of Iowa Human Rights Week and the UI Center for Human Rights' (UICHR) speaker series. 

Dr. Yehieli’s primary areas of specialty include refugee, minority, and immigrant care, as well as maternal and child health for underserved populations.  She has more than 25 years of field experience in public health, conducting programs both domestically and internationally with refugees, women, children, minorities, the elderly, and other at-risk individuals. 

Dr. Yehieli is the founder and advisor of the award-winning “Global Health Corps,” a model service-learning program at the University of Northern Iowa that has trained more than 500 students in conducting culturally appropriate public health programs with over 40,000 diverse and underserved populations in the United States and abroad. 
Additional sponsors for the noon lecture include the College of Public Health, the College of Public Health Student Association, and the Global Health Club.  The lecture is free and open to the public.

Dr. Yehieli will present information about diversity in an interactive, informational setting.  The talk is entitled, “A Diversity Discussion: Immigrant Health and the Iowa Center on Health Disparities.” 
For more information or special accommodations to attend talk, contact the UICHR at 319-335-3900 or uichr@uiowa.edu.

The UICHR are part of International Programs, which enables University of Iowa students, faculty, staff and the public to learn from and about the world. Its offices, degree programs and events provide life-changing opportunities on campus and abroad, heighten intellectual and cultural diversity and give all university constituents access to vital international knowledge. For more information call 319-353-2700. International Programs is part of the UI Office of the Provost.

 

Human Rights Benefit Concert to take place Jan. 24

UI Amnesty International and the Global Health Club are sponsoring J[AMnesty] Human Rights Benefit Concert from 6 to 11 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, at Old Brick, 26 E. Market St. Proceeds from the concert will benefit Amnesty USA’s Denounce Torture campaign, which works to end unlawful detention and investigate allegations of torture, and  DarfurFast, a fundraising initiative by numerous human rights organizations to prevent the rape and other assaults on women in Sudanese refugee camps.

Musical acts include The Western Front, Happy Go Lovely, King Dipshit and the Broken Spokes, Intersection, Derek Thorn and Craigula, and a local Sudanese band. Abdalla Mohamed Abdalla will also speak. Abdalla was born in Sudan, where he worked as a teacher, freelance musician, activist and journalist.

Attendees are asked to bring a canned food item to donate to the Johnson County Crisis Center. The concert is open to the public. A $5 suggested donation will benefit human rights organizations. Speakers during the program include:

For more information please contact: Shajia Ahmad at shajia-ahmad@uiowa.edu or Juliet Reid at juliet-reid@uiowa.edu.

 

New Stanley Foundation president to visit UI campus Jan. 24

Program officers of the Muscatine-based Stanley Foundation, including its new president Vlad Sambaiew, will visit the University of Iowa campus on Thursday, Jan. 24.

They will speak about the foundation’s global affairs programs in a presentation titled “Promoting a Secure Peace through International Cooperation: An Introduction to Iowa’s Stanley Foundation,” from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Lucas Dodge Room of the Iowa Memorial Union. The presentation, which is free and open to the public, is hosted by UI International Programs.

“The Stanley Foundation has a long history of successful collaboration with the University of Iowa, and with International Programs in particular, to enhance the internationalization of our faculty, staff, and students,” said Downing Thomas, associate dean of International Programs. “We are grateful for this opportunity to introduce Vlad Sambaiew and his colleagues to the University community.”

Sambaiew will provide an introduction and general overview of the Stanley Foundation to begin the presentation.

“This event is an excellent opportunity for intellectual exchange on important international affairs issues with faculty, students and the public,” Sambaiew said. “Our program officers are specialists in key world regions and pressing challenges in areas such as nonproliferation.”

Additional speakers from the Stanley Foundation include:

  • Michael Kraig, director of policy analysis and dialogue. Kraig will discuss the foundation’s current policy initiatives, including its work on nuclear nonproliferation, disarmament, and U.S. and global security issues.
  • Michael Schiffer, program officer. Schiffer will discuss the foundation’s work on North Korea, Asian security, and multilateral architecture issues.
  • Keith Porter, director of communication and outreach. Porter will discuss the foundation’s public programming initiatives, including citizen engagement, media relationships, and public broadcasting.
  • Jill Goldesberry, program officer for community partnerships. Goldesberry will discuss the foundation’s breadth of Iowa educational programming.

Sambaiew joined the foundation on Sept. 4, 2007, following a 30-year U.S. State Department career. As minister counselor for economic affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, Sambaiew was responsible for all aspects of economic and trade relations between the United States and Mexico. He served in similar positions at U.S. embassies in Tokyo, Moscow, Paris and Ottawa. Sambaiew directed the State Department’s Office of Bilateral Trade during the time of China’s entry into the World Trade Organization.

In the mid-‘90s, Mr. Sambaiew was counselor for environment, science, and technology at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow where he was in-country lead on the U.S.-Russia program to control “loose” Russian nuclear materials. He also oversaw three sessions of the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission. Earlier in his career, he served in Japan from 1985 to 1991 and ran a U.S. training program for Eastern European officials.

The Stanley Foundation seeks a secure peace with freedom and justice, built on world citizenship and effective global governance. It brings fresh voices, original ideas, and lasting solutions to debates on global and regional problems. The foundation is a nonpartisan, private operating foundation, located in Muscatine, Iowa, that focuses on peace and security issues and advocates principled multilateralism. The foundation frequently collaborates with other organizations. It does not make grants.
 
University of Iowa International Programs enables UI students, faculty, staff and the public to learn from and about the world. Its offices, degree programs and events provide life-changing opportunities on campus and abroad, heighten intellectual and cultural diversity and give all university constituents access to vital international knowledge. For more information, visit the International Programs website or call 319-353-2700. International Programs is part of the UI Office of the Provost.