The University of Iowa will host the 23rd annual Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, in Hubbard Park on the UI campus, the first time that the festival has been held in the fall as the official kickoff to the 2013 UI Homecoming Week.

Former Congressman Jim Leach, also a visiting professor in the UI College of Law, will present “Bridging Cultures: the Heart of the Fulbright Program” at an upcoming UI event celebrating the legacy of Fulbright programs at the university.

The UI American Sign Language Program in the Division of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures will host Deaf Awareness Week Saturday, Sept. 21 through Friday, Sept. 27. Activities include an American Sign Language (ASL) story time, workshops on interacting with deaf persons and interpreters, and a sports night.

In the fall of 2010, Rebecca Kling was fired from a teaching position for being a transgender woman. The experience left her wondering what America was teaching its children—and adults— about gender, conformity, and being just a little different. Kling will share what she learned Sept. 17 and 18 in a visit to the UI campus.

In observation of the Sept. 11, 2001 anniversary, the University of Iowa Intellectual Dialogue Society, a student organization, will host a reading and a talk centering on the experience of being Arab and Muslim in the United States.

Distinguished international communication scholar Chin-Chuan Lee will give two public sessions on the University of Iowa campus Sept. 18 and 19, both free and open to the public.

The Iowa Latino Conference will take place at the Iowa Memorial Union Friday, Sept. 27. The conference features the Latino Professional Development Institute and the Latino Youth Development Leadership Summit.

Pamela Bourjaily, the director of the Frank Business Communications Center, says the pronunciation program was developed as an effort to better respect Chinese students and encourage a more comfortable environment in the classroom, for both the Chinese and domestic community.

Two-time Emmy-Award winner and University of Iowa alumnus Marcos McPeek Villatoro will visit the UI campus and local community Sept. 15-18 thanks to a collaboration between the UI Chief Diversity Office and the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

The 2013-14 season of International Programs’ WorldCanvass series begins with a program focused on human rights and the arts. The live event takes place on Friday, Sept. 20, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Senate Chamber of the Old Capitol Museum.

As the number of student veterans at the University of Iowa continues to grow, President Sally Mason said Tuesday the university is committed to expanding opportunities on campus for this diverse group.

The University of Iowa Center for Human Rights will host a special forum on the conflict in Syria titled "Intervention in Syria: Law, Ethics, and Policy" from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept.11, in Conference Room 2520D of the University Capitol Centre.

The University of Iowa is trading English for Mandarin and Facebook for WeChat to reach out to international students.

Fifty years ago, George Raveling was a 26-year-old former college basketball star who was not only one of a quarter-million people to witness Martin Luther King's historic "I Have a Dream" speech—as a last—minute volunteer, he had a coveted spot near the podium.

Russian teenagers have been spending two weeks learning the craft of writing at one of America's best literary arts institutions.

Martin Luther King, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech defined a movement to improve the lives of African-Americans in this country. “Its importance was immediately apparent,” says Colin Gordon, UI history professor.

University of Iowa students, faculty, staff, and the general public are invited to the Military and Veteran Student Services Open House from 12:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 3, in the newly remodeled office located at 111 Communications Center on the UI campus.

Former journalist and Air Force Airman Allen Roberts brings his experience and enthusiasm to the new position of Military and Veteran Education Specialist at the University of Iowa, where he advocates for the more than 500 student veterans on the UI campus.

From the time they arrived in Iowa City, Kwang-Kuk and Kook-Wha Koh began to create a shared life story unlike any other, and after 50 years, their story remains as unique as the day they left their native Korea to begin graduate studies in chemical and biochemical engineering at the UI.

Allen Roberts, a military and veteran educational specialist at the UI and a veteran himself, said the university tries to make veteran students feel comfortable with the school and the college experience.