Professors at the University of Iowa are seeing more Chinese students in their classrooms, so they’re taking extra steps to make them feel comfortable. This program pairs Chinese-speaking student tutors with faculty and staff in one-on-one sessions at the beginning of every semester.

Soon, high-school students from Iowa might be able to trade places with those in Japan. Kim Heidemann, the executive director of Iowa Sister States, is in Yamanashi, Japan, to discuss the possibility of a high-school student exchange program beginning in the spring of 2016. Iowa Sister States is a nonprofit organization that promotes programs between Iowa and various “sister states” to foster positive international relationships. These sister states include Yamanashi, Kosovo, and Hebei, China, among many others, and programs range from economic trade to education. “These relationships help give students and professors new opportunities to meet people from another culture and exchange ideas,” said Kassi Wheeler, the international-program manager for Iowa Sister States.

This year’s 13 UI recipients represents a 63 percent increase over the institution’s eight grant recipients last year, when it ranked 45th among peer institutions in number of Fulbright awards.

Two young professionals from Southeast Asia will spend May in Iowa City as part of a cultural-exchange program started by President Obama.

Thirteen University of Iowa students and alumni have been awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants to conduct research, attend graduate school, undertake creative projects, or serve as English teaching assistants abroad in 2015–16. According to the most recent report on the Top Producers of U.S. Fulbright Scholars and Students, the UI has risen from 128th to 45th in the number of Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards among its peer institutions.

Thirteen University of Iowa students and alumni have been awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants to conduct research, attend graduate school, undertake creative projects, or serve as English teaching assistants abroad in 2015–16. This year's recipients are: Brett Burk, Douglas Baker, Julia Cartwright, Daniel Goering, Quinn Hejlik, Clare Jones, Julia Julstrom-Agoyo, Sarah Mayer, Acacia Roberts, Steph Rue, Beatrice Smigasiewicz, Gloria Wenman, and Audrey Williams.

Nigerian student Esther Bila said she thought she was competing for a school trophy when she was asked to take a special exam. However, she ended up earning a yearlong scholarship to study in the United States through the Kennedy Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program.

A new grant for the third-largest language program at the University of Iowa will mean expanded Japanese programs around campus. A more than $300,000 Institutional Project Support grant from the Japan Foundation will bring new faculty, facilities, and opportunities for more students to learn Japanese at the UI.

Through the silver screen, we are able to connect with stories, places and faces from home and around the world. As filmmaker Martin Scorsese says, “Movies touch our hearts and awaken our vision, and change the way we see things. They take us to other places, they open doors and minds.” At FilmScene, we couldn’t agree more with Scorsese’s sentiment, which speaks to the heart of everything we do as a nonprofit film arts organization.

Sean O’Harrow, the director of the University of Iowa Museum of Art, said there’s much more to Pollock, his work, and his legacy than people give him credit for, and a new exhibition at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, organized by the UI Art Museum, will show people just how influential and important Pollack was — and is still.

A photo exhibition of Wang’s work will run through May 12 in the Adler Journalism Building Resource Center. Photographs include representations of bicycle repairmen and construction from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

In an effort to raise awareness about the tragedy that has struck Nepal, community members gathered for a candlelight vigil Tuesday in Cedar Rapids.