Events Calendar

Apr 3, 2025

8:00 AM - 8:00 PM

BIG CAMERA SHOW presents the work of current students and recent alumni of various BFA and MFA programs working with view camera technologies. For the non-photo nerd, picture an older box camera where the photographer has a dark cloth over their head to focus an upside down and backward image onto a pane of ground glass. Each photograph is made on an individual sheet of large film - for example, the formats most commonly used are 4 by 5 inches and 8 by 10 inches. While they may seem old-scho...

Apr 4, 2025

8:00 AM - 8:00 PM

BIG CAMERA SHOW presents the work of current students and recent alumni of various BFA and MFA programs working with view camera technologies. For the non-photo nerd, picture an older box camera where the photographer has a dark cloth over their head to focus an upside down and backward image onto a pane of ground glass. Each photograph is made on an individual sheet of large film - for example, the formats most commonly used are 4 by 5 inches and 8 by 10 inches. While they may seem old-scho...

Apr 4, 2025

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces. Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists. Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each sessio...

Apr 4, 2025

8:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Please join the University of Iowa Physics & Astronomy Department as we use the Van Allen Observatory and small telescopes to tour the spring sky. To attend this Astronomy observation session, follow the signs in Van Allen Hall to the east elevator to reach the roof.  Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa–sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please con...

Apr 5, 2025

8:00 AM - 8:00 PM

BIG CAMERA SHOW presents the work of current students and recent alumni of various BFA and MFA programs working with view camera technologies. For the non-photo nerd, picture an older box camera where the photographer has a dark cloth over their head to focus an upside down and backward image onto a pane of ground glass. Each photograph is made on an individual sheet of large film - for example, the formats most commonly used are 4 by 5 inches and 8 by 10 inches. While they may seem old-scho...

Apr 5, 2025

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Join us for four discussions of Toni Morrison's Beloved and the exhibition it's a fine thing, led by the Stanley’s curator of special projects and author of What Napoleon Could Not Do, Derek (DK) Nnuro. Register for each session by clicking the dates below, capped at 30 participants:  Feb. 15 (Pages 1 - 59) March 8 (Pages 60 - 195) April 5 (Pages 199 - 277) May 10 (Pages 281 - 324) Iowa City is one of 62 communities nationwide participating in the 2023-2024 NEA Big Read. From Februa...

Apr 8, 2025

7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Intuitive Eating is an approach that teaches you how to create a healthy relationship with your food, mind, and body. It is based on 10 basic principles that invite you to a world of satisfying eating and a sense of freedom from dieting. The four-week workshop is free for students and will provide education, activities, practice, and support to improve your food and body image awareness. Register for the spring workshop starting Tuesdays, April 1–22 from 7–8:30 p.m.

Apr 9, 2025

7:00 PM

Chris Offutt will read from his new novel, The Reluctant Sheriff. Chris Offutt grew up in Haldeman, Kentucky, population 200, a former mining town in the Appalachian hills. His books include Shifty's Boys, The Killing Hills, Country Dark, Kentucky Straight, Out of the Woods, The Good Brother, The Same River Twice, No Heroes, and My Father the Pornographer. He wrote and produced scripts for True Blood, Weeds, and Treme.  His television work was nominated for an Emmy. His work is in many ant...

Apr 11, 2025

7:00 PM

Writers' Workshop alum, Jonathan Thirkield will read from his latest book, Infinity Pool. Jonathan Thirkield's work explores the boundaries between the human language systems of poetry and code—as forms of expression and as structural models for being. His first collection of poetry, The Waker's Corridor, won the 2008 Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets. His newest collection, Infinity Pool, was published by the University of Chicago Press' Phoenix Poets series in September ...

Apr 13, 2025

2:00 PM - 3:30 PM

The Drawing Salon focuses on drawing artworks from the museum's collection. Each session will focus on a different artwork. The sessions will begin with an introduction and discussion of the selected work. Participants will be encouraged to pursue their own visions and to take inspiration from the artworks in the gallery. Pencils and sketchbooks/paper are the only artmaking materials allowed in the galleries. The museum has golf pencils with erasers and clipboards for participants to use. S...

Apr 15, 2025

7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Intuitive Eating is an approach that teaches you how to create a healthy relationship with your food, mind, and body. It is based on 10 basic principles that invite you to a world of satisfying eating and a sense of freedom from dieting. The four-week workshop is free for students and will provide education, activities, practice, and support to improve your food and body image awareness. Register for the spring workshop starting Tuesdays, April 1–22 from 7–8:30 p.m.

Apr 17, 2025

7:00 PM

Sanjena Sathian will read from her new novel, Goddess Complex, joined in conversation by Ren Arcamone. Sanjena Sathian is the author of Goddess Complex, published by Penguin Press, and the critically acclaimed novel Gold Diggers, which was named a Top 10 Best Book of 2021 by the Washington Post and longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. It won the Townsend Prize for Fiction. Her short fiction appears in The Best American Short Stories, The Atlantic, Conjunctions, One St...

Apr 18, 2025

8:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Please join the University of Iowa Physics & Astronomy Department as we use the Van Allen Observatory and small telescopes to tour the spring sky. To attend this Astronomy observation session, follow the signs in Van Allen Hall to the east elevator to reach the roof.  Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa–sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please con...

Apr 22, 2025

7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Intuitive Eating is an approach that teaches you how to create a healthy relationship with your food, mind, and body. It is based on 10 basic principles that invite you to a world of satisfying eating and a sense of freedom from dieting. The four-week workshop is free for students and will provide education, activities, practice, and support to improve your food and body image awareness. Register for the spring workshop starting Tuesdays, April 1–22 from 7–8:30 p.m.

Apr 25, 2025

7:00 PM

Writers' Workshop alum, Michelle Herman will read from her latest book, If You Say So. Michelle Herman's newest book, If You Say So, an essay collection, will be out in spring 2025. The author of nine previous books — the novels Missing, Dog, Devotion, and, most recently, Close-Up; the story collection A New and Glorious Life; three earlier collections of essays, The Middle of Everything, Stories We Tell Ourselves, and Like A Song; and a book for children, A Girl’s Guide to Life — she taugh...

May 2, 2025

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces. Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists. Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each sessio...

May 2, 2025

8:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Please join the University of Iowa Physics & Astronomy Department as we use the Van Allen Observatory and small telescopes to tour the spring sky. To attend this Astronomy observation session, follow the signs in Van Allen Hall to the east elevator to reach the roof.  Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa–sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please con...

May 10, 2025

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Join us for four discussions of Toni Morrison's Beloved and the exhibition it's a fine thing, led by the Stanley’s curator of special projects and author of What Napoleon Could Not Do, Derek (DK) Nnuro. Register for each session by clicking the dates below, capped at 30 participants:  Feb. 15 (Pages 1 - 59) March 8 (Pages 60 - 195) April 5 (Pages 199 - 277) May 10 (Pages 281 - 324) Iowa City is one of 62 communities nationwide participating in the 2023-2024 NEA Big Read. From Februa...

May 16, 2025

8:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Please join the University of Iowa Physics & Astronomy Department as we use the Van Allen Observatory and small telescopes to tour the spring sky. To attend this Astronomy observation session, follow the signs in Van Allen Hall to the east elevator to reach the roof.  Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa–sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please con...

May 18, 2025

2:00 PM - 3:30 PM

The Drawing Salon focuses on drawing artworks from the museum's collection. Each session will focus on a different artwork. The sessions will begin with an introduction and discussion of the selected work. Participants will be encouraged to pursue their own visions and to take inspiration from the artworks in the gallery. Pencils and sketchbooks/paper are the only artmaking materials allowed in the galleries. The museum has golf pencils with erasers and clipboards for participants to use. S...

Jun 6, 2025

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces. Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists. Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each sessio...

Jul 12, 2025

9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

What types of plants, animals, and fungal life might you find at the Ashton Prairie Living Laboratory? Let's find out!  Join researchers in collecting, observing, and recording biodiversity at the Ashton Prairie Living Laboratory in our 5th Annual BioBlitz. Your findings will inform a major research project and will contribute to the fifth data point in a multi-year documentation of how diversity changes at this site over time. Collections will be housed with the UI Museum of Natural Histor...

Aug 1, 2025

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces. Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists. Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each sessio...

Sep 5, 2025

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces. Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists. Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each sessio...

Oct 3, 2025

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces. Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists. Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each sessio...

Nov 7, 2025

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces. Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists. Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each sessio...

Dec 5, 2025

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces. Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists. Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each sessio...