In October 2008, the Icelandic economy collapsed. The stock market closed, and banks were re-nationalized. Demonstrators amassed in unprecedented numbers and the government fell. What had been considered one of the world’s most advanced industrial democracies became the canary in the coal mine for what the European Union was about to experience with Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Italy.

More than two dozen Icelandic social scientists from Iceland, Canada, and the United States will converge on the University of Iowa campus Sunday, Aug. 12 through Tuesday, Aug. 14, to debate, discuss, and dissect the Icelandic economic meltdown in an effort to gain a better understanding of its causes, effects, and consequences. The National Science Foundation and the UI Department of Anthropology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are sponsoring the conference.

Conference sessions are free and open to the public. The conference will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 12, in the Iowa Memorial Union, Lucas Dodge Room, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 13 and Tuesday, Aug. 14, in the Adler Journalism Building, Room E-205 on the UI campus. Details can be found at www.uiowa.edu/~confinst/meltdown.

For more information or special accommodations to attend, contact one of the following conference organizers: E. Paul Durrenberger, UI professor emeritus of anthropology, at 319-643-4055 or at e-durrenberger@uiowa.edu, or Gisli Palsson, professor of anthropology, University of Iceland, at gpals@hi.is.