Preparing for a trip abroad may have just gotten easier. Students and staff at the University of Iowa requiring visas, passport renewals, or other travel document services will now be offered these services at a discounted rate. The Committee on Institutional Cooperation has signed a contract with CIBT Visa Services to provide passport and visa services to the UI and other Institutional Cooperation institutions — which include other schools in the Big Ten.

The University of Iowa is ranked among the top 35 public universities in the nation (U.S. News & World Report) and is renowned not only for its academic excellence but for its research profile. But what does it mean to be a ‘research university?’ Joan Kjaer and her WorldCanvass guests discussed the answer to that question from multiple perspectives when they gathered on January 26 for a program called “Research to Real Life.” Below is a ReCap of the event with access to see and hear the full program.

We live in an age of new technology, expecting any day to wake up to yet another jaw-dropping device or a discovery that simply changes everything about the way we live and work. The rate of innovation in the modern age can be breathtaking, but technological advances have jolted humans into new and unfamiliar territory since the dawn of humankind. On the next WorldCanvass, we’ll contemplate the larger implications of the adoption of new technologies—how do they change the ways in which individuals interact, the sharing of information, the movement of people and ideas from place to place, and what does all of this mean to the shape and form of a culture? WorldCanvass guests will discuss “Encountering New Technology” at FilmScene on February 9, beginning at 5 p.m. The program is free and open to the public.

Iowa City ranked seventh in the Peace Corps’ 2015 listing of the country’s top volunteer-producing metro areas per capita. This is the first time the Iowa City metro area (defined as Washington and Johnson counties) reached the top 10 on the list of currently-serving Peace Corps volunteers.

Looking to make your study abroad experience a bit more affordable? Apply for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship! The Gilman scholarship is open to U.S. citizen undergraduate students who are receiving Federal Pell Grant funding to participate in study and intern abroad programs worldwide.

On February 1 Iowans will choose the presidential candidates in the Democrat and Republican parties who they wish to see move on to the national election. This is a rare opportunity for international visitors to witness a tradition that is very unique to the state of Iowa.

If the phrase "academic research" brings to mind tweedy professors poring over rare manuscripts or bespectacled scientists in lab coats examining glass beakers — you’re probably not alone. Nor is the stereotype entirely wrong; I’ve certainly dressed the part of rumpled geek during my career, to the occasional chagrin of my family. The prolonged and often unglamorous work of studying how social, economic and political forces shaped history, or how the universe operates down to the subatomic level and out at the furthest edges of space can seem mysterious, tedious and irrelevant to people outside of academia.

Congratulations to our very own India Winterim study abroad program, recipient of the prestigious 2016 Institute of International Education (IIE) Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education. This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the India Winterim program, with over 1,000 students and faculty participating since its inauguration. Geography professor and India Winterim creator Raj Rajagopal and International Programs' Assistant Provost Doug Lee will accept the award at a ceremony in Davis, California, in March.

Hello everyone! First off, I would like to thank everyone who is reading my blog, and hope you find my posts somewhat entertaining and interesting as I document my times here in Scotland. For my first entry, I’m going to talk about getting around the city of Edinburgh, which has been quite different than my time in Iowa City.

“Tell me about a time when you were faced with a difficult situation and how you resolved it,” an interviewer might ask you. Or perhaps, “Give me an example of a moment when you were thrown out of your comfort zone and how you dealt with it.” These questions can be daunting for even the most qualified job applicant. But the truth is, your interviewer is probably expecting some pretty stereotypical answers: You took a difficult class outside of your major and, by some force of will, ended up getting a decent grade. You took part in a group project that you essentially had to complete on your own because your partners were lazy. Yawn. This isn’t going to help you stand out. But, studies show that a study abroad experience might. Not only will a story about tackling the language barrier during your time in Spain have your interviewer going from apathetic to absorbed – it can also showcase all the skills that make a study abroad experience truly valuable.