As the culminating event in the Black Lives on Screen series that has spanned the spring semester, Tracie Morris (Iowa Writers' Workshop) is presenting a short filmic work with performance voice-over. Black Spring (in 5 parts) is cultural theory, cinema, poetry, protest art, and elegy. Morris views the commissioned piece, which the Obermann Center has co-sponsored, as "a chance to say something helpful" in the wake of last summer's protests and the murder of George Floyd. Unlike Morris's other film projects, Black Spring does not use a single, seminal piece of cinema; rather, the piece is inspired by the importance that documentary footage via cell phone and bystanders has played in the recent understanding of violent events, especially actions by the police against Brown and Black citizens.

On April 29, 2022, the UI will welcome a remarkable new tree to the Pentacrest: a sapling propagated from the old chestnut tree that grew behind the Amsterdam annex where Anne Frank and her family hid during World War II. Kirsten Kumpf Baele, PhD (German, CLAS) secured this tremendous honor for the UI, one of only 13 U.S. sites so far approved to host an Anne Frank sapling. All who are interested in learning more about next year's events and brainstorming ways that their courses, departments, or organizations can be involved are invited to join Kumpf Baele and Obermann staff at one of two virtual “town-hall” meetings on Thursday, May 13, 2021.

How can cross-disciplinary, project-based courses serve graduate students across the University? This question is under investigation by both the Andrew W. Mellon-funded Humanities for the Public Good PHD initiative and the National Science Foundation NRT-Funded Sustainable Water Development Graduate Program, as well as implicitly in interdisciplinary degrees in many corners of the University. A new Summer Institute invites faculty and academic staff who work with graduate students to share perspectives on cross-disciplinary teaching and learning. Led by David Cwiertney (College of Engineering) and Teresa Mangum (Obermann Center), 15 participants will receive a $500 stipend and the opportunity to join an ongoing working group.

"If you’re a faculty member at a public university in Iowa, you’re under no illusion that tenure is guaranteed because, on a regular basis, an Iowa state representative proposes abolishing it," writes Obermann Center director Teresa Mangum. Mangum joins twelve other scholars who were asked by the Chronicle of Higher Education to contribute thought pieces about "rethinking a beleaguered institution." The pieces challenge the purpose of tenure and encourage senior faculty "to urge our administrators to take more risks in favor of an education that promotes citizenship, equity, and social and environmental justice."

The Obermann Center's Advisory Board comprises faculty and staff who provide invaluable insight into the needs of scholars, share best practices from other organizations and institutions, and help us to imagine new programming. We are very thankful to the two members who are rotating off of our board after three years of service: Naomi Greyser (GWSS and English) and Joyce Tsai (Stanley Museum of Art and SAAH). We count ourselves extremely grateful to have benefitted from their rigorous and generous thinking. Next year, the board will welcome Lauren Lessing (Stanley Museum of Art) and Maurine Neiman (Biology and Office of the Provost).