David Schoenbaum, UI history professor emeritus, has been researching his book, The Violin: A Social History of the World's Most Versatile Instrument, ever since he started playing the violin, as a child.

"Puddin’," written and developed by Bethany Jackson, and "Spot’s Community," written and directed by Taylor Cook, will be presented together on March 27 and 29. Jacob Schiller and Emilia Hodges will collaborate on "Lungs," by British playwright Duncan Macmillan; it will be presented March 28 and 30. All shows are free and open to the public.

"U.S. News & World Report" ranks 26 University of Iowa graduate programs and colleges among the 25 best in the country among all public and private schools.

Mary Szybist, alumna and former teaching-writing fellow at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, will read from her new book of poetry, "Incarnadine," at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The reading also will be streamed live on the University of Iowa Writing University website.

University of Iowa paleontologist Christopher Brochu comments on the latest fossils discovered in a massive expansion project, skulls of crocodilians, which are ancient relatives of alligators, though he was not involved with this new work.

The maxillary sinuses, those pouches on either side of the human nose, have a purpose after all: They act as cushions to allow noses to assume different shapes. The study by a University of Iowa-led research team explains the relationship for the first time. Results appear in the journal "Anatomical Record."

Nick Benson, coordinator of the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC), is making new connections between the University of Iowa and Iowa communities. Benson is working to expand the IISC into a campus-wide initiative. The IISC recently formalized agreements with four Iowa communities for the 2013-2014 academic year: Muscatine, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, and Washington.

Kathleen Janz, a UI professor of health and human physiology, says parents need to be part of the solution of helping kids get more physical activity in response to a report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Barbara Eckstein, Jim Giglierano, and Mark NeuCollins will present "The Arc, the Wall, and the Line: Mapping the People's Weather" from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13 in 1117 University Capitol Center (UCC) Conference Room A.

Telecommuters actually work more overtime than their office-bound colleagues, says Mary Noonan, UI associate professor in sociology, in a story on how Yahoo's chief executive has decreed that workers must start showing up at the office.

H.S. Udaykumar and Meena Khandelwal will discuss their efforts to trace the linkages among forests, energy, gender relations, health, consumption, and culture, and between the local and global processes at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 13 at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, 111 Church St.

When musician Ralph Covert performs before an audience, belting out tunes such as "I'm Not Tired" and "Puddle of Mud," the throngs of adoring fans tend to be those under 10. The Grammy-nominated UI graduate has recorded 10 albums in the genre of children's music with his band Ralph's World, and now he is delving into children's television.