Christopher Newfield, one of the country’s most energetic analysts of higher education funding, will present a public lecture Monday, April 28, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Iowa City Public Library. This event winds up the Obermann Center’s Designing the Future series while raising powerful questions about our own future.

Hannah Morlowe, a doctoral student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' Department of Physics and Astronomy, has won a prestigious NASA grant to develop a gamma-ray burst polarimeter to study the light produced by explosions in distant galaxies.

Members of the media are invited to cover an event this Friday, April 25, when Shimek Elementary students release helium weather balloons that will carry cameras high into the sky to measure the curvature of the earth, thanks to a hands-on learning project with UI students and the School of the Wild.

Approximately 200 middle school student members of the African American Awareness Program in Cedar Rapids will be on campus Thursday, May 1 to experience life as college students and participate in a book discussion.

David Cassels Johnson, an assistant professor at the University of Iowa College of Education, has recently released a new book, "Language Policy." It explains critical theories, research methods and findings, while offering new ideas supported by empirical data collection on the topic.

Two University of Iowa College of Education professors, Michael Kolen and Robert L. Brennan, have collaborated to publish a third edition of the book examining critical concepts in the field of testing: "Test Equating, Scaling, and Linking."

For most students, summers are filled with bikinis and beach balls; however, for Blake Rupe, a UI graduate student from Ottumwa, Iowa, her beach gear consisted of safety gloves and sanitary bags as she conducted research on the garbage presence in Veracruz, Mexico.

The UI Center for Teaching and ITS-Instructional Services are sponsoring a Faculty Institute, "Releasing Your Inner Performer: Strategies for Memorable Classroom Delivery" on May 19-20. The institute will provide an opportunity to learn, practice, and perhaps perfect a variety of classroom presentation skills.

See a roundup of recent University of Iowa activities, research, public engagement, and campus life in Iowa Now Minute.

Starting in May 2014, the Center for Teaching and ITS-Instructional Services will work with a group of UI faculty members who have identified a learning need in their students and would like to find or help devise a game to help students address that learning challenge.

As dental technology expands, the UI College of Dentistry has kept up: “We want to make sure our students are getting the best education possible...” says Michael Kanellis, the associate dean for patient care.

A May 1 presentation and panel discussion hosted by University of Iowa ITS Instructional Services will focus on the growing use of eTextbooks and the emerging uses of digital course content on the UI campus.