The UI Chief Diversity Office invites members of the campus and community to celebrate distinctive and innovative diversity contributions at the 15th annual Diversity Catalyst Award Reception Tuesday, April 15, in the Second Floor Ballroom of the Iowa Memorial Union.

See a roundup of recent University of Iowa activities, research, public engagement, and campus life in Iowa Now Minute 4/11/2014.

Fans of the University of Iowa baseball and softball teams have almost 40 combined opportunities to watch their favorite teams compete on campus in Iowa City in the spring. The Hawkeye men’s golf team has one chance to show their fans what they can do on the course.

Travel back to the Ice Age, forward to a future in outer space, north to the Arctic, or south to Cape Fear during a weekend of fun for all ages as the University of Iowa Pentacrest Museums host Family Weekend Saturday and Sunday, April 19 and 20.

University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduates Karla Kelsey and Endi Bogue Hartigan will read from their new books of poetry from Omnidawn Press at 7 p.m. Friday, April 18, 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’s brightest elementary students will present their inventions at the 27th annual Invent Iowa competition Saturday, April 19, from 12:30 to 4:20 p.m. The event will take place at the Blank Honors Center on the University of Iowa campus and is free and open to the public.

Members of the media are invited to “Black Girls Do Science,” a camp for girls in grades 4-8 in which the girls do hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities. The event is Saturday April 12, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Seamans Center, hosted by the National Society of Black Engineers and the UI College of Engineering.

The University of Iowa Department of Dance will present "Wild Ones," a Dance MFA thesis concert featuring the work of Marie Brown, Jingqiu Guan, Marie Mortensen, and Dana Powers-Klooster at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, April 17-19, in Space Place Theatre, 101 North Hall.

The University of Iowa School of Music will present a free performance by the UI Symphony Band, conducted by Mark Heidel, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17, in the Iowa Memorial Union Ballroom on the UI campus.

Searching for a visual journey through the blurred lines of reality? The 12th annual Iowa City International Documentary Film Festival invites people to explore the boundaries of documentary and nonfiction filmmaking. The three-day festival runs Thursday-Saturday, April 17-19, at Film Scene in downtown Iowa City.

The University of Iowa has created a Twitter account devoted to research. The @UIowaResearch account will act as the central node for research, broadcasting research news, events, and expert views from the university to myriad audiences central to the institution. The account launched today.

From Bettendorf, Camanche, and Elkader to Jamaica and Rome, far-flung corners of the world have found their way into the names of Iowa cities and towns. At the second annual Iowa Humanities Festival, scholars from across the state will share the connections present between Iowa and the globe.