A University of Iowa graduate used her science background and personal desire for natural products to launch a soap and skin care business in her native Egypt.

UI senior and Winterset, Iowa, native Chance Sullivan plans to spend part of the next year interviewing at medical schools. He might show up with a motorcycle helmet under his arm.

In a special event co-sponsored by the Mission Creek Festival, University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduates Leslie Jamison and Adam Fell will read from their new work at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, 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.

Writers’ Workshop instructor Kevin Brockmeier will read from his new memoir, "A Few Seconds of Radiant Filmstrip: A Memoir of Seventh Grade," at 7 p.m. Monday, March 31, 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.

Iowa Percussion, housed within the University of Iowa School of Music, will present “Premieres and Other Firsts” at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 30, in Riverside Recital Hall on the UI campus. The concert, which is free and open to the public, will feature marimba soloist Andy Harnsberger, dulcimer soloist Matthew Coley, and composer Steven Simpson as guest artists.

Kelly Meany, a UI social work student in Des Moines, benefited from an adult mentor as young girl and now offers that same support to another child.

The University of Iowa Department of Dance will stage "Presenting Norma," an MFA thesis concert featuring the work of Lindsay Fisher and Jeremy Blair, at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, April 3-5, in Space Place Theatre (101 North Hall).

The University of Iowa School of Music will present a free piano recital by guest artist Jose R. Lopez, associate professor and coordinator of the Keyboard Studies Program at Florida International University in Miami, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 2, in Riverside Recital Hall on the UI campus.

The Journalism Education Association has named UI graduate Kyle Phillips, Cedar Rapids Washington High School teacher, one of 14 "rising stars," which recognizes early-career teachers who demonstrate a commitment to journalism education and show promise as up-and-coming advisers.

The University of Iowa Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, Faculty Senate, and the Office of the Provost invite faculty to the annual Tenure Workshop Monday, March 31, in Room 116 of Art Building West.

Thirty University of Iowa graduate and undergraduate students from the combined studios of School of Music faculty members Katherine Eberle, Gregory Hand, Rachel Joselson, John Muriello, Stephen Swanson, Elizabeth Oakes, Nicole Esposito, Volkan Orhon, and Andrew Parker will perform in “Music of the Baroque for Voice and Instruments” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 31, in Riverside Recital Hall.

How does affect shape the work of artists, scholars, and activists? How might working environments and labor conditions become healthier? The UI Obermann Humanities Symposium: Affect and Inquiry will address these questions and more Thursday, March 27 to Saturday, March 29.