Dear all,

April showers brought abundant rainfall and a flurry of activity as we near the end of the spring semester. Our premier event, the annual Provost’s Global Forum (PGF), Cinematic Connections in a Polarized World: How Movies Bring Us Together, was held April 21-23. With emphasis on films from the Jewish diaspora, the forum’s panels, screenings, and conversations focused on how humor, friendship, family, food, and music bridge differences across cultural divides. A major highlight of the PGF was the Joel Barkan Memorial Lecture, delivered by Professor Emeritus Lawrence Baron of San Diego State University. Our dear friend Sandy Barkan was in attendance, and, as always, it was a delight to see her back in Iowa City. Major plaudits go to the faculty organizers,  Elke Heckner, associate professor of instruction, German of the Department of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures, and Cultures, and Denise Filios, associate professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, as well as the tremendous Communications and Relations team here in International Programs, Daniel Vorwerk, Hallie Russell, Ben Partridge, Katie Ron, Kate Murphy, and Amy Green. The turnout was very high, and I was especially pleased by the number of students who came to the lectures and screenings.

The Provost’s Global Forum is, of course, made possible by the Stanley-University of Iowa Foundation Support Organization (SUIFSO), whose board met for its annual meeting in April as well. Each member of the board states that this is one of their favorite meetings of the year, with the members indicating that the atmosphere is more like a family reunion than anything else. The board is expertly run by its chair, Cathy Zaharis, with other members including President Barbara Wilson, President and CEO of the University of Iowa Center for Advancement (UICA), Lynette Marshall, representatives of the Stanley family, Elizabeth Shriver and Rebecca Stanley, as well as Gregs Thomopulos of the UICA Board, and Marty Nevshamal, chief operating officer at the UICA. We note that Lynette is retiring in May, and wish to thank her for all her strong support of SUIFSO and International Programs over the years. We send our warm congratulations to Lynette and very much look forward to working with incoming UICA President, our friend Sheila Baldwin.  

It is in large part thanks to SUIFSO that IP can engage its international partners in such a meaningful and substantive way. This past month, the UI and IP played host to two sets of visitors from Taiwan. Professor Jrjeng Ruan from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan spent almost a week on campus interacting with colleagues in the UI Colleges of Engineering and Pharmacy to discuss research partnerships in the field of materials science, specifically organic and inorganic semiconductors, hydrogels, and polymers to be used primarily in the biomedical sciences. The Office of the Vice President for Research was also involved in Professor Ruan’s visit, as were faculty members from IP’s Center for Asian and Pacific Studies (CAPS). NCKU is eager to partner with the UI in several areas, and we look forward to building this collaboration. Likewise, we were quite pleased to work with the UI College of Pharmacy in welcoming a delegation from Taipei Medical University (TMU) to renew the Memorandum of Understanding between our two institutions. As luck would have it, TMU was represented by two UI alumni, and it was a true pleasure to connect with them. As many of you know, I visited Taiwan last December to build relationships with our alumni there, and these two visits were in part a result of that alumni engagement trip.

April also saw visits from public universities in the Czech Republic hosted by the Tippie College of Business, as well as Vanessa Govender welcomed by IP’s Iowa Global Health Network, and a delegation from the Japan Foundation’s New York office, featuring a reading by renowned author Keiichiro Hirano. These events were well attended, underscoring our community’s interest in global affairs and IP’s role in promoting events that help highlight Iowa’s place in the world.

Thanks, as always, for your support of our endeavors.

All the best, 

Russ

International Programs (IP) at the University of Iowa (UI) is committed to enriching the global experience of UI students, faculty, staff, and the general public by leading efforts to promote internationally oriented teaching, research, creative work, and community engagement.  IP provides support for international students and scholars, administers scholarships and assistance for students who study, intern, or do research abroad, and provides funding opportunities and grant-writing assistance for faculty engaged in international research. IP shares their stories through various media, and by hosting multiple public engagement activities each year.