University of Iowa space physicist Don Gurnett says there is solid evidence that NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has become the first manmade object to reach interstellar space, more than 11 billion miles distant and 36 years after it was launched. Gurnett is principal investigator for the Voyager 1 Plasma Wave Instrument.

University of Iowa Professor of Physics and Astronomy Don Gurnett and research scientist Bill Kurth will present a free, public lecture on NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft and its historic encounter with interstellar space at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16, in Lecture Room 1 of Van Allen Hall on 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.

Writers’ Workshop graduate Alexander Maksik will read from his new novel, "A Marker to Measure Drift," at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, 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 Center for New Music, housed within the UI School of Music, will present a free concert by violinst Wolfgang David and Center for New Music director and UI piano faculty member David Gompper at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, in the Senate Chamber of Old Capitol.

Phillip Lopate, the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program’s first visiting writer of the academic year, will read from his work at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, in Room 101 of Biology Building East on the UI campus. The reading is one of several events scheduled around Lopate’s visit; all are free and open to the public.

UI sociologist Michael Sauder participates in a discussion about the history of higher education, including controversies surrounding college rankings at the turn of the 20th century.

Iowa Writers' Workshop graduate Michelle Herman will read from her book "Stories We Tell Ourselves" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, 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.

Get a sneak preview into a powerful new imaging device to arrive at the University of Iowa this fall. Speakers at a symposium on Thursday, Sept. 12 will describe the 7 Tesla's research capabilities and uses. The UI will be one of only about 20 research institutes with the instrument.

The UI’s Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC) and the City of Muscatine are launching a partnership focusing on key projects for the city’s long-term sustainability. Students in art, business, engineering, public health, rhetoric, and urban planning will work under the direction of UI faculty and Muscatine leaders.

Sydney Johnson, a Des Moines native, was determined to study abroad while at the UI. She chose a small Italian town off the beaten path to hone her language skills.