WorldCanvass®, which ran for 15 years, was hosted by Joan Kjaer. Through discussions with scholars, community members, and thought leaders, the program explored topics that were international in scope and central to our understanding of how individuals fit into the global landscape.

Past WorldCanvass programs can be accessed on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Public Radio Exchange (PRX). Transcripts are provided where available.

worldcanvass logo

2023-2024 Season

April 9, 2023 - Connecting Iowa with the World and the World with Iowa

2022-2023 Season

November 7, 2022 - International Impact and Global Student Awards
December 8, 2022 - Translation and Global Literacy
February 2, 2023 - UI Stanley Museum of Art: New Home, New Vision
April 17, 2023 An Evening with the Meitar Ensemble (Provost's Global Forum)

2021-2022 Season

September 10 - Wellspring: The Power of Partnerships
October 12 - Dostoevsky: From Revolutionary Outcast to Man of God
November 15 - 2021 International Impact Awards
February 1 - The Global Implications of MeToo
February 28 - Teaching Anne Frank (Provost's Global Forum)
March 31 - Corruption, The Rise of Populism, and the Future of Democracy

2020-2021 Season

October 22 - Pursuing Racial Justice
November 16 - Iowa in the World: Personal Commitment/Global Impact
December 8 - Teaching and Learning Post-COVID
February 24 - The Ghanaian-American Experience in Literature and Art: A Conversation with Yaa Gyasi and D.K. Nnuro
March 16 - COVID Care for Marginalized and Vulnerable Populations
April 16 - Gandhi at 150 (Provost's Global Forum)

2019-2020 Season

September 19 - Art and the Face of War: Goya and Tolstoy
October 9 - Research at Iowa: Investigating Space, Cancer Treatments, and Iowa's Bioscience Priorities
November 21 - Simon Estes: A Life in Music (including presentation of the UI International Impact Award)
February 6 - The Future of Museums
February 21 - Coronavirus: Perceptions and Precautions

2018-2019 Season

October 9 - The Politics and Impact of Immigration (PRX) (View transcript)
November 13 - Educational Cross-fertilization: the Iowa/India Connection (PRX)
December 5 - U.S. Foreign Policy, Geopolitical Realignment, and Global Stability (PRX)
February 12 - Artificial Intelligence (PRX) (View transcript)
March 28 - What's in a Word? The Translator's Challenge (PRX) - Major Project (View transcript)
April 11 - Why School? Education and Social Transformation (PRX) - Provost's Global Forum​​​ (View transcript)

2017-2018 Season

September 29 – Embracing Complexity: Islamic Art and Culture (PRX) (View transcript)
October 18 – Journalism and a Free Press in the Age of Fake News (PRX) (View transcript)
November 1 – The Russian Revolution 100 Years On (PRX) (View transcript)
December 7 – Art & the Afterlife (View transcript)
February 22 – Against Amnesia: Archives, Evidence, and Social Justice (PRX) - Provost's Global Forum (View transcript)
March 1 – Translating Music (PRX) (View transcript)
April 25 - Climate Science and the Environment - What's Next? (PRX) (View transcript)

2016-2017 Season

September 13 - Fracking and the Iowa Divide (PRX)
October 15 - Redefining Nationhood (PRX) - Provost’s Global Forum
October 29 - Creation and Discovery: The Unlikeliness of It All (PRX) - Special event at the Royal Academy of the Arts, London
November 17 - Higher Education in the Age of Internationalization (PRX)
December 7 - White Privilege, Structural Racism, and the Dream of America (PRX)
January 17 - Our Lives Online
February 20 - Resilience Over Trauma (PRX)
March 8 - Immigration Then and Now: From German Iowa to Today’s Refugees (PRX)
April 12- Women's Health and the Environment: Going Up in Smoke (PRX)

2015-2016 Season

September 15 - Don Quixote's Four Century Saga (PRX)
October 13- The Evolution of Climate Change: 25 Years and Counting (PRX)
November 10 - Communicating for Social and Behavioral Change (PRX)
December 8 - Cuba: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (PRX)
January 26 - Research to Real Life (PRX)
February 9 - Encountering New Technology (PRX)
March 1 - Taking It to the Streets: Engagement and the Academy (PRX)
April 19 - Big Data: Big Brother or Big Sister? (PRX)

2014-2015 Season

January 20 - Food for Thought (PRX)
February 3 - Tobacco, Pot, and the Public Interest (PRX)
March 3 - Energy Cultures and the Age of the Anthropocene (PRX)
April 28 - The Arab Spring in a Global Context (PRX)
May 5 - Reel to Real (PRX)
September 2 - The Passion That Drives Innovation (PRX)
October 14 - Snapshot: Brazil (PRX)
November 18 - The Tenacious Cycle of Poverty, Hunger, and Disease (PRX)
December 9 - Gender and Identity (PRX)

2013-2014 Season

January 24 - Cultural Memory and Commemoration (PRX)
February 21 - A Century of Film (PRX)
March 28 - Child Protection: A Global Responsibility (PRX)
April 11 - The Crossroads Project with the Fry Quartet (PRX)
May 9 - The Language of the Brain (PRX)
September 20 - The Arts as Vocabulary (PRX)
October 18 - The Rise of Chinese Public Opinion (PRX)
November 8 - The Social Impact of Sustainability (PRX)
December 6 - Teaching Innovation (PRX)

2012-2013 Season

January 25 - The Rupture of Civil War (PRX)
February 15 - Genetics and New Technologies (PRX)
March 8 - The Book Culture, Languages, and Arts of Indigenous Peoples (PRX)
April 5 - Refugees in the Heartland (PRX)
May 3 - Remaking the Body: Identity and Body Modification (PRX)
September 21 - Napoleon and His Legacy (PRX)
October 5 - The Latino Midwest (PRX)
November 2 - IWP: Writing the Stories of the World (PRX)
December 7 - Globalization and the World Economy (PRX)

2011-2012 Season

January 27 – Women, Hysteria and Medicine (PRX)
February 10 – The History of Sustainability (PRX)
March 2 – Japan (PRX)
April 13 – Global Science Fiction (PRX)
May 4 – Art and Memory (PRX)
September 23 – Comics, Creativity and Culture (PRX)
October 7 – New Culture and New Welfare in South Asia
November 11 – Being the Other (PRX)
December 2 – Iowa and Invisible Man (PRX)

2010-2011 Season

January 28 – Counterculture of the 60s and 70s (PRX)
February 18 – East Africa (PRX)
March 25 – Starving for Water: The Global Water Crisis (PRX)
April 8 – Women in Post-Socialist Eastern Europe (PRX)
May 6 – Italian Art and Culture (PRX)
September 10 – Documenting Humanity (PRX)
October 8 – Slavery and Gender (PRX)
November 12 – The Value of an International Education (PRX)
December 10 – The American West of the Imagination (PRX)

2009-2010 Season

January 22 – Taping the World (PRX)
February 12 – India (PRX)
March 5 – Asia (PRX)
April 9 – Latin America (PRX)
May 7 – Middle East (PRX)
November 13 – Human Rights (PRX)
December 11 – Africa (PRX)