On the next WorldCanvass, we investigate adverse childhood experiences and the negative physical and mental health consequences children and adults with these experiences may face. If left unaddressed and untreated, the toxic stress of childhood adversity can have serious health repercussions throughout a lifetime. But important advances are being made in the recognition and treatment of health issues related to adverse childhood experiences, many of them led by physicians and researchers at the University of Iowa. WorldCanvass host Joan Kjaer will speak with experts from a wide range of health disciplines as well as child advocates from the Iowa City Community School District and Johnson County on February 20, from 7:30-9:00 p.m., when the topic is “Resilience Over Trauma.” The free event will be held in the Recital Hall of the Voxman Music Building. No tickets are required.

New time, new location! Season eight of the television, radio, and internet program WorldCanvass will begin on Tuesday, September 13, at 7:30 p.m., in the newly-opened Voxman Music Building in downtown Iowa City. WorldCanvass guests will join host Joan Kjaer to discuss the controversial method of energy production known as fracking and its impact on the environment, social dynamics, and the economy. We’ll also explore through music, photography, and literature ways in which artists have documented transitions and grappled with the drumbeat of change. The public is invited to attend and no tickets are required. 

WorldCanvass tackles informatics—also known as big data—on its final program of the 2015-2016 season. Guests from the diverse fields of computer science, medicine, sociology, public health, and geographical and sustainability sciences will discuss the proliferation of big data and their attempts to both understand and utilize this massive and, in many ways, untamed digital resource. “Big Data: Big Brother or Big Sister?” is the topic at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19, at FilmScene. WorldCanvass is free and open to the public.

The University of Iowa is ranked among the top 35 public universities in the nation (U.S. News & World Report) and is renowned not only for its academic excellence but for its research profile. But what does it mean to be a ‘research university?’ Joan Kjaer and her WorldCanvass guests discussed the answer to that question from multiple perspectives when they gathered on January 26 for a program called “Research to Real Life.” Below is a ReCap of the event with access to see and hear the full program.

We live in an age of new technology, expecting any day to wake up to yet another jaw-dropping device or a discovery that simply changes everything about the way we live and work. The rate of innovation in the modern age can be breathtaking, but technological advances have jolted humans into new and unfamiliar territory since the dawn of humankind. On the next WorldCanvass, we’ll contemplate the larger implications of the adoption of new technologies—how do they change the ways in which individuals interact, the sharing of information, the movement of people and ideas from place to place, and what does all of this mean to the shape and form of a culture? WorldCanvass guests will discuss “Encountering New Technology” at FilmScene on February 9, beginning at 5 p.m. The program is free and open to the public.

The University of Iowa is ranked among the top 35 public universities in the nation (U.S. News & World Report) and is renowned not only for its academic excellence but for its research profile. But what does it mean to be a ‘research university?’ WorldCanvass guests will answer that question from multiple perspectives when they gather at Iowa City’s FilmScene at 5 p.m. on January 26 for a program called “Taking it to the Streets: Research to Real Life.” The program is free and open to the public.

Would you like to teach English, study, or do research abroad for an academic year at no cost? Join International Programs for the fourth-annual intensive Fulbright U.S. Student Program workshop on Friday, January 29, 2016, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in 2520 University Capitol Centre. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is open to juniors, seniors, graduate students, Ph.D. students, and recent graduates who are looking for international opportunities. Only U.S. citizens may apply.

On November 10, 2015, Joan Kjaer and a panel of guests discussed ”communicating for social and behavioral change" as part of a special edition of WorldCanvass. The program included the presentation of the 2015 International Impact Award. This is a ReCap of the event with access to see and hear the full program.

Patrick Reed graduated with a Master in Fine Arts in papermaking and bookbinding from the UI Center for the Book in 2013. He received a Fulbright grant in 2014 to the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany, for his project “Apocalyptic Themes of Natural Disaster in 16th and 21st Century Woodcut Prints.” He is currently back in Germany continuing his research through a DAAD Study Scholarship and Research Grant. International Programs interviewed Patrick to get his insights on living abroad, and how the experience affected his research.

On the next WorldCanvass, Rebecca Arnold, UI Masters of Public Health graduate and senior program officer at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communications Programs, will receive the UI’s 2015 International Impact Award. This is the sixth year of the award, which is given to exceptional individuals who have made sustained and deep contributions internationally or in the U.S. to promote global understanding. The presentation and following WorldCanvass discussion will begin at 5 p.m., November 10, at FilmScene in downtown Iowa City and is free and open to the public.

It was impossible to get lost. The address of the archives was clear on the website: monumental area, next to the cathedral. It was not my first time in Cuenca, but I did not know how long it would take me walking from downtown, where my hostel was. I left two hours before the archives opened to make sure I would take full advantage of the four hours a day the archive is open.

Please join the Iowa Chapter of the Fulbright Association and UI International Programs for the kick-off to this year’s Fulbright Lunch & Learn Seminar Series on Thursday, October 8, 2015, from 12:30 – 1:20 p.m. in 1117, University Capitol Centre (Old Capitol Mall).