Meenakshi Gigi Durham, a UI journalism professor, discusses the "crazy paradox" of how some book covers use stereotypes of mainstream femininity to visually represent work that challenges those stereotypes in a story on the 50th anniversary edition of The Bell Jar.

Some 4,000 undergraduate students at the University of Iowa were named to the Dean's list for the 2012 fall semester.

The UI School of Music will present the 2013 University of Iowa Orchestra Invitational Gala Concert, performed by the UI Chamber Orchestra and School of Music faculty, at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22, in Riverside Recital Hall on the UI campus. The concert is free and the public is welcome.

The University of Iowa Public Digital Humanities for Lunch (PDH4L) series continues a presentation titled "New Ways of Writing in Community" from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, at the Gerber Auditorium in the English and Philosophy Building (EPB).

The University of Iowa awarded an estimated 1,500 degrees at the close of the 2012 fall session.

Margot Livesey, Jonathan Goldsmith Visiting Author at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, will present a free reading at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in the Frank Conroy Reading Room of the Glenn Schaeffer Library, adjacent to the Dey House.

Iowa City poet and Iowa Writers' Workshop alumnus James McKean will read from his new collection of poetry, "We Are the Bus," winner of the 2011 X.J. Kennedy Prize, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, 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 School of Music will present a free performance by the UI Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of William LaRue Jones and featuring UI piano faculty Alan Huckleberry, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, in the Main Lounge of the Iowa Memorial Union.

Dina Nayeri, an Iranian-born author who moved to the United States at age 10, will read from her debut novel, "A Teaspoon of Earth and Salt," at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. Nayeri is at work on her second novel at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was a Truman Capote Fellow and is a Teaching Writing Fellow.

Ayana Mathis, University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumna, will read from "The Twelve Tribes of Hattie," the most recent pick for Oprah’s Book Club 2.0, at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25, in a free reading at the Englert Theatre in downtown Iowa City.

The University of Iowa School of Music will present a free recital by faculty member Jonathan Allen at 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, in the University Capitol Centre recital hall. Allen will perform on trombone and will be accompanied by School of Music alumnus Daniel Kubus on piano.

The University of Iowa School of Music will present a free alumna recital by soprano Emily Truckenbrod at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, in the University Capitol Centre recital hall. Truckenbrod, accompanied by Linda Perry on piano, will perform works by George Frideric Handel and Richard Strauss, among others.