WHAT: National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Chair William “Bro” Adams will visit the University of Iowa campus Thursday and Friday, Aug. 27 and 28, to kick off the Creative Matters lecture series. Of particular interest to media may be Adams’ lecture and his tour of the UI Center for the Book, where he will watch a demonstration of historical papermaking and discussion of medieval manuscript program. He will also be visiting the Writers’ Workshop and making other stops during his two-day visit. The NEH is a major funder of humanities scholarship at the University of Iowa.

WHEN: Adams’ lecture will take place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. The UI Center for the Book tour will take place from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 28.

WHERE: The lecture will be held in 240 Art Building West. The tour will take place in North Hall.

WHO: Christopher Merrill, director of the UI International Writing Program, will introduce Adams at Thursday’s lecture. Timothy Barrett, Director of the UI Center for the Book, and Jonathan Wilcox, UI Department of English Chair and John C. Gerber Professor of English, will lead the tour of the center on Friday.

WHY: Adams’ visit—which is occurring as the NEH’s 50th anniversary celebration gets underway—is the first of several scheduled campus visits and lectures that are part of Creative Matters, an ambitious series this year that seeks to demonstrate that creativity is at the core of all research and discovery. The free series includes artists, thinkers, builders, and doers who challenge conventional thinking about creativity, science, and artistic expression, and borrow from a range of influences and disciplines in their work. More information at http://creativematters.research.uiowa.edu/.

CONTACT: Media interested in covering these activities are encouraged to contact Stephen Pradarelli, OVPR&ED strategic communication director, at stephen-pradarelli@uiowa.edu or 318-384-1282.