Audrey Williams, of West Des Moines, IA, has received a 2015-16 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to analyze Turkish development cooperation with Somalia, Kenya and Sudan. Audrey is a 2013 graduate of the University of Iowa with a B.A. in political science and French. She is currently working as a Program Associate for Partnership for a Secure America in Washington D.C.

This month, the University of Iowa will host experts and researchers from around the world as part of the 2015 Provost’s Global Forum, “The Arab Spring in a Global Context.” Scholars from a variety of academic disciplines will examine a range of issues including social change and justice, racial/ethnic and gender relations, law, public policy, media, and economic development in the context of the Arab Spring. This four-day, multi-event conference will take place Tuesday, April 28, through Friday, May 1.

The European Studies Group will continue its spring 2015 lecture series on Friday, April 24 at 12:30 p.m. in 2520B University Capitol Centre with a lecture by Jennifer Sessions entitled, “Monumental Struggles for Decolonization: Colonial Statutes, Iconoclasm, and Preservation during the Algerian War.”

Beatrice Smigasiewicz has received a 2015-16 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to write a book of essays titled Recovered Futures, which will investigate the representation of post-Soviet Polish identity in the cultural capital of Krakow. Smigasiewicz graduated with an M.F.A. in literary translation from the University of Iowa in May 2014 and will earn a second M.F.A. in nonfiction writing from the UI this May. As a Polish-American who lived in the country until the age of eleven, Beatrice seeks to understand modern-day Poland through interviews, museum research, and study of Polish literature and architecture.

On "castle rock" in the Bay of Biscay, as I bit into a sort of hand-held omelet, I wondered: who invented this ingenious snack? I mean, who in history was the one to discover that you could even eat an egg, not to mention fry it with potatoes and onions into a graspable food item. The true genius of it struck me because Josu, my hiking companion, had prepared this himself and though I had eaten this same thing in nearly every restaurant in my neighborhood, there was something notable about this one.

One of the most significant aspects of studying abroad is seeing everything you possibly can, while learning and growing every step of the way. After getting settled into my new life at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, I was quickly ready to get out there and begin seeing all the things I had spent months pinning on Pinterest. After all, my parents were beginning to wonder what exactly I was getting out of spending day after day at the beach.

In a Global Health Studies Program sponsored lecture, Marcos Cueto will speak about the World Health Organization and international global health efforts with a special emphasis on the Africa Regional Office in a talk titled, "Between Tropical Medicine and International Health."

A symposium to highlight the evolution of photojournalism, “From Local to Global — Photojournalism in the New Millennium,” will introduce the work of noted international photographers and distinguished scholars to the University of Iowa campus and community. The symposium, with presentations on topics ranging from representations of rural Iowa and rural China to documentation of global events to cutting-edge digital photo projects will take place on Friday, April 3, 2015, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m in the rotunda of the Adler Journalism Building.

I have been at the University of Newcastle, in New South Wales, Australia for nearly three weeks already, and yet I continue to wake up most mornings in awe that this is actually my life. I prepared for this journey for quite some time; making and saving money, meeting deadlines for paperwork, and doing lots of research. To finally be here, literally on the other side of the world, can at times be hard to grasp.

On my third day in Spain, I learned about the expert pickpockets of Madrid. It wasn’t simply through Ibon’s sound advice to get a money belt or to sling packs in front of our bodies where we could see them. No, I had to learn the hard way. I’m blaming it on the fact that I’m from a town where we don’t even lock our bikes. I implicitly trust everybody. However, belief rarely lines up with reality and in less than a week abroad I found myself wallet-free. Still, I’m optimistic that not every lesson that day was lost on me. Before I was so swiftly and silently robbed, I absorbed some stories about Spain’s long and complicated history, which, on more than one occasion, involved miracles.

Roberto Paniagua, originally from Westchester, IL, graduated from the University of Iowa in 2011 with a dual degree in economics and political science. While at the UI, Roberto studied abroad in not only Lyon, France, but on the India Winterim program as well. Currently, he is a Business and Industrial Markets Account Manager for Google in Chicago, IL. Read on for a Q-and-A with Roberto to learn about how he applies the skills he learned abroad to his life today.

I spent the entirety of last weekend in Bath. The journey commenced around noon on Friday when my friend Juliette and I left the Norwich train station for London Liverpool Street. We originally intended to leave around 10:30 a.m., but complications arose and we missed our train. This incited a brief period of anxiety, but after a few minutes I was able to remind myself that the journey wasn't ruined or cancelled because of one small complication. To travel frequently means you have to be ready for anything to happen, because unfortunately not everything will run smoothly.