The University of Iowa football team kicked off its 2012 season Sept. 1 at Soldier Field in Chicago. Thousands of Hawkeye fans invaded the Windy City, seeing the sights and spreading Hawkeye cheer everywhere they went. Check out the scenes from Navy Pier, Wrigley Field, and the site of the game against the Northern Illinois Huskies.

Leaders of University of Iowa student governments and the Hawks Nest, the official student fan group, are sending a message to UI students, encouraging them to “be proud and cheer loud” but also to “be good neighbors” as the fall football and sports season gets under way.

Percussionist James Dreier, a faculty member in the jazz studies program of the UI School of Music, will feature special guests Joel Vanderheyden, saxophone, and Brian Smith, trumpet, in a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9, in the University Capitol Centre Recital Hall.

Legendary modern-dance choreographer/director Jennifer Muller will be in residence at the University of Iowa Department of Dance this week, preparing UI dancers to perform her classic work "SPEEDS" in the upcoming Dance Gala.

Global initiatives at John Deere will be the subject of a seminar by Brian J. Rauch, vice president of engineering, John Deere Construction and Forestry, from 5 to 5:50 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, in MacBride Hall Auditorium. The seminar is held in conjunction with John Deere Day.

Free events on Sept. 7 and 9 presented by the University of Iowa International Writing Program (IWP) will span the globe of literature.

Manchester Orchestra will perform in the Iowa Memorial Union Ballroom on Friday, Nov. 9.

Natalie Bokopoulos will read from “The Green Shore,” her debut novel set during the 1967 military coup in Greece, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, in Prairie Lights Book and a live stream on the University of Iowa Virtual Writing University website.

The University of Iowa International Writing Program (IWP), in collaboration with other units in the Writing University, will begin its series of free Prairie Lights readings with IWP residents Taleb Al Refai from Kuwait and T.J. Dema from Botswana, joined by Nonfiction Writing Program student Ariel Lewiton at 4 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 2.

Poet, critic, and novelist Ben Lerner, a guest of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, will present a free reading at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, in the Frank Conroy Reading Room of the Dey House.

The University of Iowa Pentacrest Museums will host the Macbride Raptor Project’s “Iowa Birds of Prey” traveling program in the Biosphere Discovery Hub of the Museum of Natural History on Saturday, Sept. 1, at 2 p.m. The free public program features a live hawk and owl.

The School of Social Work in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will host two workshops for social workers, mental health counselors, and substance abuse professionals, as well as a Homecoming event for alumni.