Anna Barker, visiting assistant professor in Asian & Slavic languages and literatures, is leading a 100-day virtual group read of War and Peace. The reading project, which began on February 1, has already attracted more than 825 enthusiastic participants. While reading the 1,000-plus page War and Peace might sound daunting to many, Barker has broken the book down into 10 to 14 pages daily. She offers commentary and discussion threads on a Facebook group called 100 Days of War and Peace. We caught up with Barker recently to learn more.

An archaeology dig in Sicily…performances of Shakespeare’s work…learning about Spain’s culture through conversations with Spaniards…all from the comforts of home. These experiences represent a small sampling of what students can expect from virtual study abroad course offerings this summer. The courses, led by UI faculty members, illustrate a bright spot of the COVID-19 pandemic—innovation through necessity. Student interest in learning about the world around them hasn’t diminished just because international travel isn’t possible at the moment. A growing group of faculty members has accepted the challenge to create virtual study abroad courses that allow students a rich learning experience—often featuring small-group discussions with in-country experts and scholars, hands-on cultural activities, livestreamed performances, and guided tours of historical sites.

Believe it or not, Anna Barker planned to read "War and Peace" months before the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month. Throughout 2020, Barker, a professor of Russian literature at the University of Iowa, led three other readings to help guide those stuck at home through the ongoing global pandemic. Some of her former students following along with the "Paradise Lost" reading joked she needed to start a new project: "1812 days of 'War and Peace.' "

The changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic have impacted every person, every industry, every region, and every communal activity for nearly the whole of 2020. Even after the much-hoped-for vaccine is developed and distributed, some believe that life and work patterns have been forever altered. What comes next in the field of global education is the subject of the December WorldCanvass on the topic “Teaching and Learning Post-COVID.”  WorldCanvass will be held virtually through Zoom, from 5:30-7 p.m. on December 8.

The United States is undoubtedly undergoing a period of reckoning over race, not only a reexamination of our historical past, but a present-day challenge to what many perceive as institutional racism, injustice in policing and judicial systems, inequality of opportunity based on race and ethnicity, and a lack of diversity in our public institutions which serves to perpetuate inequities and minimize the claims of those who feel underrepresented. We invite you to join us on Thursday, October 22, from 5:30-7:00 p.m., for “Pursuing Racial Justice,” the first program in the 2020-2021 season of WorldCanvass. 

In June, Ted Neal, associate professor of science education and former wildlife camp instructor, travelled to São Paulo, Brazil, to present his research on informal learning environments and immersive inquiry. Neal received funding to pursue international education from the University of Iowa’s International Travel Award. The grant supports international travel for research, creative activity, and active participation from university tenured, tenure-track, clinical, or research faculty members looking to travel internationally.

WorldCanvass guests on October 9 will take us inside the groundbreaking history of space research at the UI, describe their research into 'chemo brain' or the cognitive deficits that can occur after chemotherapy, and detail a research collaboration that aims to provide weather and climate information to farmers to help them make key decisions at different times of the year. Join us at the next WorldCanvass for an intriguing conversation about research breakthroughs and the many unexpected but essential discoveries that flow from them. The live event is free and open to the public. The program is held at MERGE, 136 South Dubuque Street, in Iowa City from 5:30-7 p.m., with a pre-show reception from 5-5:30 p.m.

Join us on Thursday, September 19, for “Art and the Face of War: Goya and Tolstoy,” the first program in the new season of WorldCanvass. While Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco de Goya and Russian writer Leo Tolstoy were separated by time and space, the two created incomparable masterworks centered on the tragic events of the more than decade-long Napoleonic Wars. We’ll view that momentous period of human struggle and suffering through Goya’s shocking collection of prints called “Disasters of War” and Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace,” exploring not only the original works but also later interpretations through film and opera. WorldCanvass is free and open to the public. The program is held at MERGE, 136 South Dubuque Street, in Iowa City from 5:30-7 p.m. with a pre-show reception from 5-5:30 p.m.

UI associate professor Irina Kostina wins global curriculum development award to teach new course about the North Caucasus.

UI Anthropology Professor Katina Lillios and UI archaeologists were involved in the largest study to date of ancient DNA from the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Portugal and Spain).

The University of Iowa is pleased to announce that Leslie Locke, assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of Iowa, has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar to Mexico for the 2019-20 academic year. Locke will be co-teaching a course and working on a collaborative research project that centers on the perspectives of public school leaders and teachers regarding their work as educators and serving students and families with the most need. 

The twentieth century has been called the American Century, a time when American ingenuity, economic growth, military power, and vibrant cultural expression led to increased prosperity and confidence at home and a stabilizing role in leadership on the international stage. 2018 finds us in a time of shifting alliances, renewed nationalism, unraveling multinational trade agreements, and serious divides at every level of political discourse. On the next WorldCanvass, historians, political scientists, and a former U.S. ambassador will look back over the last century through the prism of foreign policy and explore the interwar period (1918-1939), follow the rise of the post-WWII Western alliance, and assess U.S. foreign policy in a new time of global realignment and instability. Joan Kjaer hosts WorldCanvass, which takes place in downtown Iowa City at MERGE, 136 South Dubuque Street, from 5:30-7 p.m. on Wednesday, December 5, and is free and open to the public. We invite you to come at 5 and join us for a pre-show catered reception.