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Top Public University for Writing

Iowa's strength in writing reaches new level in annual U.S. News & World Report ranking

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News and Announcements

Exterior of Schaeffer Hall showing Liberal Arts name

Greteman explains how the term "liberal arts" emerged in ancient times

Monday, September 18, 2023
Blaine Greteman, professor and chair, breaks down the meaning and origin of the term "liberal arts" in this submission to The Conservation.
Book cover of Reproduction: A Novel by Louisa Hall

Reproduction by Louisa Hall review – pregnancy, pain and Frankenstein

Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Are pregnancy and childbirth the most or least natural things we do? At the heart of Louisa Hall’s brainily visceral new novel is a reading of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as a book whose uncanny energy is forged in the crucible of reproduction.
closeup image of female hand writing in notebook

Opinion | English and Creative Writing Majors Graduate with Beneficial Skills

Thursday, May 4, 2023
Naomi Rivera Morales shares an Opinion piece in the Daily Iowan on how an English and Creative Writing degree allows students to grow into a skilled, versatile individual.
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Upcoming Events

UICB's Annual Nancy Brownell Lecture on the History of the Book featuring Ryan Cordell Reprinting, Composition, and Large Language Models promotional image

UICB's Annual Nancy Brownell Lecture on the History of the Book featuring Ryan Cordell Reprinting, Composition, and Large Language Models

Thursday, September 28, 2023 5:30pm
English-Philosophy Building
What might 19th-century print practices teach us about large language models like ChatGPT? This talk will address that question from several angles. First, the talk will draw on research from the Viral Texts digital humanities project (https://viraltexts.org) to consider how historical practices of text reuse, such as the reprinting that undergirded American newspapers in the 19th century, might help scholars situate 21st-century language models in a long tradition of "unoriginal" writing...

Krause Series in Contemporary Nonfiction: Patricia Foster in Conversation with Darius Stewart

Thursday, September 28, 2023 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Writer Patricia Foster, professor emerita at the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program, will read from her new collection of essays, Written in the Sky: Lessons of a Southern Daughter, on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. at Prairie Lights Books. A conversation with NWP alum and poet/essayist Darius Stewart will follow. All are welcome to attend this Krause Series in Contemporary Nonfiction event.
Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor Lecture-Jane Smiley promotional image

Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor Lecture-Jane Smiley

Thursday, October 5, 2023 7:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Main Library
The Department of English welcomes Ida Cordelia Beam Speaker, Jane Smiley, to speak on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. Jane is a Pulitzer-Prize winning author and alumni of the University of Iowa's Department of English. A reception will follow. Her visit is made possible with the support of the Provost's office and the Department of English.
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