WorldCanvass will celebrate International Education Week* with a program on “Educational Cross-fertilization: the Iowa/India Connection.” The program will feature UI President Bruce Harreld’s presentation of the 2018 International Impact Award to Rajat Jay Sehgal and the Sehgal Foundation for their leadership in support of community-based development activities, educational access, and the empowerment of women, particularly in rural India. Sehgal will also be recognized for the foundation’s multi-year partnership with the University of Iowa’s award-winning India Winterim program. Joining the discussion about the Iowa/India educational connection are Craig Just, Marian Muste, and Allen Bradley from the College of Engineering, Stephanie Gilbertson-White from the College of Nursing, Vijay Kamalumpundi from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Associate Provost and Dean of International Programs Downing Thomas. WorldCanvass begins at 5:30 on November 13 at MERGE, 136 South Dubuque Street, with a pre-show reception from 5-5:30 p.m. The program is free and open to the public.

When I arrived in the United States, I faced many barriers. Everything was so new and different. I struggled with my English and the culture was very different from my own.

WorldCanvass begins its tenth season of internationally focused discussions on October 9 with “The Politics and Impact of Immigration.” Arguments over reasonable and desirable immigration legislation and the control of U.S. borders have long vexed the political class, policy makers, and the American public, but they’ve become extraordinarily polarizing under the heightened rhetoric of recent years. WorldCanvass will explore, from diverse and often divergent points of view, the complexities that make the immigration discussion so nuanced and difficult. We’ll also hear stories of recent immigrants who’ve chosen to bring their skills, talents, and energies to their new home, Iowa. Joan Kjaer hosts the program, which takes place in downtown Iowa City at MERGE, 136 South Dubuque Street, from 5:30-7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 9, and is free and open to the public. We invite you to come at 5 and join us for a pre-show catered reception.

Environmental challenges come in all shapes and sizes. Some seem far away and intangible while others touch us in our homes, on our farmland, in the air we breathe, and in the water we drink. Leading experts in climate science and environmental research joined WorldCanvass host Joan Kjaer on April 25 to discuss the most pressing concerns facing Iowans and international efforts to mitigate potentially disastrous effects of climate change and the resulting disruption to populations worldwide.

WorldCanvass hosted experts in climate science and the environment to discuss policies in the U.S. and around the world to help the environment.

At the state level, the U.S. Climate Alliance leads the charge. Sixteen states, including Minnesota, Colorado, North Carolina and California, represent 40 percent of U.S. GDP — they have created 13 million clean energy jobs. The Climate Alliance is a testament to the proposition that climate and energy leadership promotes good jobs and economic growth.  Julie Cerqueira, executive director of the U.S. Climate Alliance, said “Iowa’s long history of leadership in clean energy, in particular the successful deployment of wind power at scale, makes its membership in the U.S. Climate Alliance both logical and valuable." Iowa should join!

On Thursday, March 1, the internationally acclaimed Elias String Quartet took WorldCanvass inside the process of music-making.  In a performance-filled program called Translating Music, members of the quartet and Elizabeth Oakes, director of the University of Iowa String Quartet Residency Program in the School of Music, discussed what it takes to bring a piece to life by focusing on two themes—nationality in music and storytelling through music. This program was part of a week-long residency at the UI, which included a number of classroom and public engagements as well as a concert at Hancher Auditorium. 

Guests on the February 22 WorldCanvass, Against Amnesia: Archives, Evidence, and Social Justice, explored the critical role of archives in our everyday lives and historical experience.  The first event in the 2018 Provost’s Global Forum-Obermann Humanities Symposium, the show's discussions opened the virtual doors of archival cabinets and shared some of Iowa’s and our nation’s most intriguing stories and little-known history—much of which might be lost if not for the thoughtful care and preservation undertaken by unsung heroes, sometimes at great personal risk.

One of the many things I loved about having a career in a professional quartet was the chance to travel. Playing music afforded me the opportunity to meet so many people across the country and the globe and it became a powerful way to share ideas and learn. Through all these adventures, I had a particularly thought-provoking experience many years ago that has stayed with me. I was teaching with my Maia Quartet colleagues at the Great Wall International Music Academy outside of Beijing. This was my first trip to China, and I had the privilege of working with many talented young musicians. Communication required some imagination, as my students spoke only a few words in English and I only knew how to count to four in Mandarin. Our instruments became our means for exchanging ideas.

On Thursday, March 1, from 5:30-7 p.m., the internationally acclaimed Elias String Quartet will take WorldCanvass inside the process of music-making. In a performance-filled program called Translating Music, members of the quartet and Elizabeth Oakes, director of the University of Iowa String Quartet Residency Program in the School of Music, will discuss what it takes to bring a piece to life by focusing on two themes—nationality in music and storytelling through music. WorldCanvass takes place at MERGE, 136 South Dubuque Street, and the program is free and open to the public. Please come early for a pre-show catered reception from 5-5:30 p.m.

Guests on the February 22 WorldCanvass will explore the critical role of archives in our everyday lives and historical experience.  Called “Against Amnesia: Archives, Evidence, and Social Justice,” the program is the first event in the Provost’s Global Forum-Obermann Humanities Symposium, the bulk of which will occur on March 1-3.  Panelists will open the virtual doors of archival cabinets and share some of Iowa’s and our nation’s most intriguing stories and little-known history—much of which might be lost if not for the thoughtful care and preservation undertaken by unsung heroes, sometimes at great personal risk. WorldCanvass will take place from 5:30-7 p.m., February 22, at MERGE, 136 South Dubuque Street.  The program is free and open to the public.  Please come early for a pre-show catered reception from 5-5:30 p.m.

Contemporary African artist Eric Adjetey Anang, internationally renowned for the Ghanaian ‘fantasy coffins’ he and generations before him have created, spent the fall 2017 semester as artist-in-residence at the UI Museum of Art. He joined UI faculty and African art scholars on the December 7 WorldCanvass in a program called “Art & the Afterlife.”