The UI’s Obermann Center for Advanced Studies has long been the home of interdisciplinary collaboration, where thinking outside the box isn’t just the result but the operating principle. Ten years ago, the Obermann Center, believing strongly in the power of actively-engaged scholarship, established an institute which would put experienced faculty together with graduate students to show them how they can enhance their teaching, research, and creative work through purposeful interaction with community partners. We’ll hear from participants—faculty, graduate students, and community members—on the next WorldCanvass in a program called “Taking It to the Streets: Engagement and the Academy.” The free program begins at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, at FilmScene in downtown Iowa City.

2015 marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of "Don Quixote," volume two. Cervantes’ masterpiece is widely considered to be the first novel, but is best known for the comic duo of the crazy knight-errant, Don Quixote, and his chubby squire, Sancho Panza, whose down-to-earth simplicity makes his master’s flights of fancy even more ridiculous. Centuries after they first appeared in print, these two characters continue to inspire new artistic production throughout the world, in art, music and film. The digital age has only enhanced their popularity, as a new generation re-envisions the knight and squire in video games and graphic novels.