The European Studies Group will present a guest lecture by Edward Ousselin of Western Washington University on "Europe as a Literary Concept: The Case of Victor Hugo" at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, October 16 in 2520D University Capitol Centre. The event is free and open to the public.

The African Studies Program (ASP) is hosting an upcoming baraza and lecture with UI professor Brian Ekdale on the emerging media genre of "slum tourism." Baraza is a Swahili word that means a deliberation meeting help by a collective group of knowledgeable individuals. The talk, titled, BARAZA: Ironic Encounters: Posthumanitarian Storytelling in Slum Tourist Media, will take place on Wednesday, October 14 from 11 a.m.-12:00 p.m. in 315 Phillips Hall. This event is free and open to the public.

The South Asian Studies Program (SASP) will kick-off its fall semester activities with a lecture by Paul Robbins on the intertwined fates of India's wild animal species and its rural populations. The event is free and open to the public and will be held on Thursday, October 29, from 5:00 - 6:30 pm in UCC 2390 (Executive Boardroom, 2nd Floor UCC).

Come celebrate with us as Ms. Sawako Kojima, of the Japan Information Center and Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago, presents the Japan Foundation Institutional Project Support Program in Japanese Studies to the University of Iowa.

Are you interested in the possibility of international study, research, or teaching? Please join International Programs for our International Scholarships, Grants, and Fellowships Open House to learn how you can apply for different types of merit-based awards. The event will be held on Wednesday, September 30, 2015, from 3:00-6:00 p.m. in the International Commons, 1117 University Capitol Centre.

More than 400 incoming freshmen, their parents, and alumni joined UI faculty and staff in early July for pre-departure orientation sessions in Beijing and Shanghai, China. This was the third year of on-site orientation sessions and the largest group of attendees to date. Attendees heard orientation presentations from UI staff, personal reflections on life at Iowa from panels of UI students and alumni, and had the opportunity to ask their own questions during a Q&A and two reception events.

They hail from as far away as Estonia, the Gaza Strip, the Côte d ’Ivoire and as near as Iowa City, but Monday, they were all gathered in one room to discuss human rights. Local and international activists gathered for a forum on human rights at the University Capitol Center, held by the Council for International Visitors to Iowa Cities (CIVIC).

Naomi Jackson knows better than anyone that Iowa City and Barbados don’t have a lot in common. Born to West Indian parents and graduating from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Jackson has spent a great deal of time in both locations. Despite a disparity in similarity, the confluence of the two led to Jackson’s Barbados-based debut novel, “The Star Side of Bird Hill.” You can hear Naomi read from her novel at Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City on July 20.

David (Hosin) Lee, an International Programs Faculty Fellow, is a professor of civil and environmental engineering and public policy at the University of Iowa. Lee also serves as the director of the Laboratory for Advanced Construction Technology center (LACT). Lee coordinated a delegation visit of two Korean congressmen in March 2015, one of whom was recently elected minority leader in the Korean congress. In the following article, Lee recounts their visit to Iowa.

Through the silver screen, we are able to connect with stories, places and faces from home and around the world. As filmmaker Martin Scorsese says, “Movies touch our hearts and awaken our vision, and change the way we see things. They take us to other places, they open doors and minds.” At FilmScene, we couldn’t agree more with Scorsese’s sentiment, which speaks to the heart of everything we do as a nonprofit film arts organization.

On May 13, President Barack Obama will welcome the rulers of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to the White House. According to the White House, the "gathering will be an opportunity for the leaders to discuss ways to enhance their partnership and deepen security cooperation." The unusual meeting comes at a critical moment in the history of these countries and members of the Arab League for a number of reasons. Iowa communities will be able to contextualize these transformations taking place in Arab countries this coming week during the 2015 Provost's Global Forum.

The European Studies Group will present a guest lecture by Cristina Moreiras of the University of Michigan on "Critical Regionalism and Historical Reason in Spanish Documentary" at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, April 27 in 315 Phillips Hall. This event is free and open to the public. A light luncheon will also be served.