Robin Hemley, director of the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program, and MFA candidate Mieke Eerkens will read from "Fakes", an anthology of short stories edited by David Shields and Matthew Vollmer, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City.

A February milestone. An injection of suspense in June. And a moment of praise (and a chance to exhale) in October. This sequence provides a snapshot of the progress made in 2012 with regard to the replacement of flood-damaged arts facilities at the University of Iowa.

The Chamber Winds ensemble in the University of Iowa School of Music will present a free performance at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, in Riverside Recital Hall on the UI campus.

The University of Iowa Symphony Orchestra and Choruses will present Brahms’ Schicksalslied, op. 54 (Song of Fate) and Carmina Burana (Songs of Beuren) by Carl Orff at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, in the Main Lounge of the Iowa Memorial Union.

The University and Concert Bands of the University of Iowa School of Music will present a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3, in the Second Floor Ballroom of the Iowa Memorial Union.

Mystery writer and Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumnus Max Allan Collins will read from his new novel, "Target Lancer," at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3, 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.

The University of Iowa Department of Dance will present a collaborative performance by students from various arts disciplines at 8 p.m. Thursday–Saturday, Nov. 29–Dec. 1, in Space Place Theater of North Hall.

The University of Iowa Chamber Orchestra and the All-University String Orchestra, with graduate-student conductors Chun-Ming Chen, Hyeyoun Jang, Benjamin Nadel, and David Tedford, will present a free concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, in Riverside Recital Hall on the UI campus.

Sara Mitchell receives the 2012 Graduate College Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award in social sciences. She is professor of political science in the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Long before she made a career of seeking out and scaling the world’s most unreachable places, about the only thing University of Iowa communications alumna Brittany Griffith was climbing was the Jefferson Street hill on the UI campus.

Jeannette George, a nursing and international studies major with an emphasis in African studies, reflects on her life-changing decision to pursue awareness of sickle-cell anemia research far beyond her UI classroom.

If you’ve ever watched a sleeping baby, you’ve probably noticed the twitching movements they make in their sleep. A research team at the University of Iowa has provided compelling evidence that these involuntary movements are important to the developing brain.