John Manning, associate professor of tuba in the University of Iowa School of Music, will give a faculty recital at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30, in Riverside Recital Hall on the UI campus. The performance is free and open to the public.

The MFA program in Spanish Creative Writing in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences draws upon traditional Hispanic views of art and the role of the writer in the community to prepare students for careers as writers and teachers, in addition to helping local populations tell their stories.

In the 21st century, the notion of graceful living has lost its meaning. We would do well to look to the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., for a lesson in living with grace.

Ten University of Iowa undergraduate students have been selected to participate in a unique pilot course for the spring 2013 semester. The course will allow the students to apply their education and creativity to help Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and others transform downtown Las Vegas.

Cory Taylor kicks off this year’s Public Digital Humanities for Lunch (PDH4L) series with “(Re)creating the World: Modeling for Google Earth with Trimble SketchUp" from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Tlaloc Rivas came to theater through activism, embracing the art for its capacity to illuminate problems and inspire change. Now a UI professor of theatre arts, he talks about plays, politics, and his more recent project—a centerpiece of the 2013 MLK Celebration of Human Rights.

University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumnus Benjamin Nugent will read from his new book, "Good Kids," at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 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.

Spencer Gillis, a University of Iowa graduate, shares his motivation for creating the short-film, Gun, one of 85 films selected to be screened at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

Guest pianist Oni Buchanan and author/poet Jon Woodward will perform "Uncanny Valley," a piano/poetry/electronics concert-length work by composer John Gibson, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27, in Riverside Recital Hall on the University of Iowa campus.

The University of Iowa will host the Honor Choir Festival at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28, in the Main Lounge of the Iowa Memorial Union on the UI campus. One hundred students from Iowa high schools, nominated by their schools’ conductors, will compose the Festival Choir.

With 70 years of association with the University of Iowa—as an undergraduate student, a graduate student, a faculty member, an administrator, and a volunteer—the late communication studies professor Sam Becker more than earned the unofficial, honorary title of Mr. University of Iowa.

A new study by UI researcher Alissa Whitmore, a doctoral candidate in archaeology, shows that items lost down the drains of bathhouses during the Roman Empire are evidence that these spaces served as social centers where people snacked on finger food and did needlework, among other activities.