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This course will survey the history of Jerusalem from antiquity to modern times. The first session will consider the archaeological evidence for ancient Israel and its neighbors. Greek and Roman Jerusalem, including at the time of Jesus and the destruction of the second temple, will be the next topic, followed by the Islamic conquest and settlement of the city, the Crusades, and Jerusalem under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The final session will examine the changes brought about by World War I, the rise of Zionism, and the modern conflict between Israel and Palestine.

INSTRUCTOR: Robert Cargill, Roger A. Hornsby Associate Professor in the Classics at the University of Iowa, is a biblical studies scholar and archaeologist. His research includes study of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), the New Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls, pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha, and the archaeology of the eastern Mediterranean.

Registration for Course 1 is now closed.

Artistic responses to the American environment have layers of meanings—aesthetic, cultural, historical, and ideological. Analyzing works of landscape art through their visual characteristics, various landscape theories, and environmental and cultural history reveals the deeper meanings of this seemingly “natural” genre. The preeminent American artistic subject in the period of territorial expansion in the mid-1800s, landscape art is also a critically important art form in our own time as the environment has become a global concern. This vividly illustrated course will survey key images and artists and offer ways of seeing and thinking about landscape, both real and imagined. 

INSTRUCTOR: Joni Kinsey was a professor of American art history at the University of Iowa from 1991 to 2024. She specializes in the history of landscape art, especially that of Thomas Moran, the first artist of Yellowstone. She also writes and teaches on other subjects, including popular prints, Grant Wood, and women artists.

Registration for Course 2 is now closed.

What do sea urchins in Pacific tidal pools, rain forests in Indonesia, and the UI’s power plant and water systems have in common? They all can help us understand sustainable system design. Using evidence from around the world and the UI campus (including obstacles encountered and lessons learned), input from campus experts, and case studies, this course will illuminate challenges and solutions in energy system redesign and decarbonization, water sustainability, and the emergence of artificial intelligence and other technologies in water use and sustainability. Finally, we will investigate how individual decisions, global policy, and history shape sustainable design.

INSTRUCTOR: Stratis Giannakouros directs the University of Iowa Office of Sustainability and the Environment. He previously worked for the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University and the Colorado State University School of Global Environmental Sustainability, among others. Giannakouros has a master’s degree in environmental politics and policy from Colorado State University.

Registration for Course 3 is now closed.

The rich history of old-time fiddling in America includes vast stylistic variation: fiddlers from different regions play the same tune in widely divergent styles. We will draw on recorded and live music from key players of the past and present, learning what makes Midwestern fiddling unique by comparing it to other regional styles. We’ll cover the features of old-time fiddling and how bluegrass music influenced it. Our survey will include players from the fiddle contest era of the 1930s and 1940s through the rise of the bluegrass era, and we will look at what is happening in Midwestern fiddling today.

INSTRUCTOR: Marc Janssen performs and teaches traditional music in Iowa and beyond. He has taught and performed at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Washington, at Bluff Country Gathering in Lanesboro, Minnesota, and throughout Iowa. He was proud to serve as performer and producer on the last album from his mentor, Iowa fiddling legend Al Murphy.

Registration for Course 4 is now closed.

The course, previously offered in fall 2018, will provide an overview of autopsy pathology, forensic pathology, and medicolegal death investigation. We will discuss history, current practice, and the value of the autopsy. After a week-one introduction to the discipline of pathology and the techniques of autopsy, two sessions will focus on death investigations, which will include anonymous clinical images of deceased individuals. One session may include a tour of the UIHC Decedent Care Center. Another session may have a guest attorney describe how medical examiners interact with the criminal and civil legal systems. The course will conclude with wide-ranging discussions about the public-health impact of autopsies.

INSTRUCTOR: Marcus Nashelsky is a forensic pathologist and medical examiner with practice experience in several states. He has been a University of Iowa Department of Pathology faculty member since 2003. Most of his work has been as medical director of the UIHC Decedent Care Center and as Johnson County medical examiner.

Registration for Course 5 is now closed.

From her small-town roots, Ruth Suckow emerged as a distinctive Iowa voice in the 1920s, just as literary magazines and publishing houses sought to diversify the representation of the United States in literature. Critic H.L. Mencken praised Suckow’s deft description of rural folkways: “the dialogue, the management of the narrative, and the little touches of color were all superb.” We will explore Suckow’s descriptions of the constraints that rural women lived under and her portrayal of intergenerational relations among farm families. We will focus on her short fiction, her novel The Folks, and comparative views of Iowa from Grant Wood, Jane Smiley, and David Rhodes. 

INSTRUCTOR: Julie Husband is professor of English at the University of Northern Iowa. She co-wrote the introduction for the 2024 edition of Ruth Suckow’s Country People. She has also co-authored Daily Life in the Industrial United States: 1870–1900 and co-edited The Speeches of Frederick Douglass: A Critical Edition.

Registration for Course 6 is now closed.

One of Shakespeare’s most familiar plays, Romeo and Juliet still raises questions for us. Is this a play about fate ("star-crossed lovers") or choice? What are we to make of moments and characters that seem comic? How does Shakespeare structure our reactions? And, given the longstanding popularity of the play, what makes it work? We’ll examine the play, with close reading of the text and viewing of selected filmed performances—and look forward to Riverside Theatre's production in City Park this summer.

INSTRUCTOR: Miriam Gilbert is professor emerita of English, having taught at the University of Iowa from 1969 to 2013. She still enjoys studying and teaching Shakespeare and going to see Shakespeare in performance, especially in her second home, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Registration for Course 7 is now closed.

Is Zionism the culmination of two millennia of Jewish longing for a return to the biblical homeland? Is it the sole guarantee of Jewish safety in an era of nation-states? Or is it a form of settler colonialism that demands the displacement of indigenous Palestinians? In this course, we’ll unpack the meanings of “Zion” and “Zionism,” from biblical times to today’s era of campus protests.

INSTRUCTOR: Lisa Heineman is the co-founder and co-director of Jewish Studies at the University of Iowa. She is a professor in the Department of History and the Department of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies.

Insights from economics—the study of how incentives shape human behavior—can make us more perceptive observers of human behavior at home and abroad. We will look at global inequality and how incentives are shaped by government policy and societal norms. We will consider technological diffusion (or lack of it) around the world and how incentives encourage and impede the creation of ideas. We will also discuss why we should be skeptical of arguments that culture, long blamed for differences in economic outcomes, is a basis for economic success or failure. These understandings can make us better world citizens and more insightful travelers.

INSTRUCTOR: Todd A. Knoop, David Joyce Professor of Economics and Business at Cornell College, is the author of multiple articles and books, including The Traveling Economist: Using Economics to Think about What Makes Us All So Different and the Same and Understanding Economic Inequality: Bigger Pies and Just Deserts.

The brain is the most complex organ in the human body, and neuroscience is still a young discipline. Yet popular culture and the news media are full of confidently presented statements about the brain that scientists know to be highly misleading or even false. This course, previously offered in spring 2023 and presented on the level of an introductory college course, will highlight eight of the most popular of these myths, including “We only use 10% of our brain” and “Lies can be detected through brain waves.” It will point out why these assertions are misguided and will offer an accurate picture of the underlying science.

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Jan Wessel is a neuroscientist and an associate professor in the Departments of Neurology and Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Iowa. He is the director of the Cognitive Neurology Laboratory, which studies the human brain’s ability to flexibly control thoughts and behaviors.

Registration for Course 10 is now closed.

Joni, Aretha, Carole, and Bonnie. Each of these exceptional singer-songwriters reflects the music of her time—from the 1960s to the 1990s—and each has an interesting set of personal stories. This course will reflect on the music, the artists’ early years, and the volatile cultural landscape of our country at that time to help us reach a deeper understanding of these women’s influence on the American music scene. Musical and video clips and written lyrics will be discussed, and students will be stimulated to apply the lyrics to their own lived experiences through short writings.

INSTRUCTOR: Ken Anderson is a clinical professor in UI’s College of Public Health and director of the Executive MHA Program. He has served as a nephrologist and a chief medical officer and has held several appointments as a state and federal health official. He has a passion for music, literature, and the performing arts.

Registration for Course 11 is now closed.

What are the rules for writing a good musical? How does the story function, and what types of songs tell that story? How do some of the best artists break the rules? To get at the answers to these questions, we will examine three musicals: Newsies, Matilda, and Tick, Tick… BOOM! All these shows are currently available for viewing at home through a paid streaming service or for listening on CDs. If any show becomes unavailable for streaming by the time the class begins, a substitute production will be chosen.

INSTRUCTOR: Christopher Okiishi is a writer, performer, director, and producer of theater. His work has been seen at City Circle Theatre Company, SPT Theatre, Theatre Cedar Rapids, Coe College, Cornell College, Riverside Theatre, Los Angeles’s Odyssey Theatre, and the New York Film Academy. He has written scores for nine theater and film projects. He is also a practicing psychiatrist who lectures locally and nationally.

Registration for Course 12 is now closed.