Mary Cohen, a UI music education professor with appointments in both the Colleges of Education and Liberal Arts and Sciences, unites prisoners and volunteers through the Oakdale Community Choir. (Note: A paid subscription may be required.)

This year's events honoring Martin Luther King Jr's legacy include a talk by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson and a reading of Katori Hall's play "The Mountaintop."

Tim Hagle, University of Iowa associate professor of political science, comments on right-to-work laws. Michigan recently became the 24th right-to-work state in the country. Iowa has had right-to-work status for 65 years.

When Maggie Shipstead’s friend was hit by a golf cart driven by a hoity-toity Nantucketer, Shipstead had no idea she would one day walk off with one of literature’s top prizes as a result. Shipstead, an alumna of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, in November received the Dylan Thomas Prize for her first novel, "Seating Arrangements."

The University of Iowa will confer an estimated 1,500 degrees at three December commencement ceremonies Friday, Dec. 14 and Saturday, Dec. 15, to honor students graduating at the end of the fall semester.

In this feature article from Iowa Alumni Magazine's December 2012 theme issue, UI alumni and faculty offer practical advice on how to find happiness at work.

Jessica Reed, who earned her Master of Science degree in chemistry from the UI in 2012, won this year's Sims Award for her research on hydrogen gas storage for use as fuel. Reed's work with magnetic microparticles substantially increases the hydrogen storage capacity of palladium and other metals used in hydrogen fuel cells.

Twin spacecraft have captured the clearest sounds yet from Earth’s radiation belts—and they mimic the chirping of birds. UI physicist Craig Kletzing played a recording of these high-pitched radio waves at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

Oprah Winfrey's magic touch is about to turn a former waitress from Brooklyn who is an alumnus of the UI Writers' Workshop, into one of the most famous writers in the country. Winfrey chose Ayana Mathis' first novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, for her Book Club 2.0.

Two colleges at the University of Iowa have received a total of $50,000 in grants from State Farm to promote business and technology education curriculum and training.

University of Iowa School of Music students enrolled in String Chamber Music and Piano Chamber Music will perform free concerts at 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 8-9, in the recital hall in University Capitol Centre.

Ronald McMullen, a University of Iowa visiting associate political science professor and ambassador, shares his thoughts on globalization in Iowa, also the topic of the next UI International Programs' World Canvass program Friday, Dec. 7. (Note: A paid subscription may be required.)