Operating at the crossroads of architecture, computation, science and engineering may seem like an uncomfortable fit. Yet Neri Oxman, associate professor of media arts and sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, is demonstrating with her scholarship that this disciplinary partnership is positively organic.

Oxman will offer a lecture titled “Everything is Connected: How to Innovate and Collaborate Across Diverse Disciplines” 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 20 in the Iowa Memorial Union, Main Lounge. Her talk is co-sponsored by the University Lecture Committee and the Creative Matters lecture series.

Oxman approaches the natural world as not something to be torn into parts and reassembled, but as a landscape to be edited. This approach led her to stray outside the design discipline silo into other fields, opening new collaborations, insights and innovations.

David Gier, director of the UI School of Music, Erich Funke Professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Administrative Faculty Fellow in the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, said Oxman is a model of the creative approach to both the sciences and the arts that the University of Iowa seeks to foster.

“Neri Oxman is a bold thinker whose work is instantly familiar and yet otherworldly,” said Gier. “The Creative Matters lecture series was created to spark our imagination and give energy to our own inspirations and ideas. There are few better than Neri Oxman at provoking wonder and galvanizing others to follow their own creative journeys wherever they lead.”

The event is free and open to the public. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please visit https://creativematters.research.uiowa.edu/.

The Creative Matters lecture series seeks to demonstrate that creativity is not only at the core of all research and discovery, but is also central to our human experience. The lineup of invited speakers includes artists, thinkers, builders, and doers who challenge conventional thinking about creativity, science, and artistic expression, borrowing from a range of influences and disciplines in their work.

The Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development provides resources and support to researchers and scholars at the University of Iowa and to businesses across Iowa with the goal of forging new frontiers of discovery and innovation and promoting a culture of creativity that benefits the campus, the state, and the world. More at http://research.uiowa.edu, and on Twitter: @DaretoDiscover.

Photo Credit: Conor Doherty