“We make listening central to our art-making,” said Michael Rohd about his theater company Sojourn Theatre at the Creative Matters lecture on April 5. “We are a theater company, but this isn’t a play that says ‘Come into our theater and let us tell you a story.’ This is a piece that says, ‘Come to this theater and, if you’re willing, engage in a conversation with us.’”

In a time when climate change is still debated, astrobiologist David Grinspoon wants to change the conversation. Grinspoon will offer a lecture titled “Earth in Human Hands: Creating Our Future with a Cosmic View of Our Past,” 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, Art Building West, Room 240.

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.

Effective collaboration starts with something very simple: listening. Michael Rohd, Artistic Director of Center for Performance and Civic Practice and the Sojourn Theatre, will speak about his experiences collaborating with arts councils, service organizations, artists, community agencies and local governments around the country to make space and context for meaningful arts based partnership practice, 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 5 in the UI Art Building West, Room 240.

Creativity animates life, connects people and is central to our human experience. That is the driving idea behind the Creative Matters lecture series, which continues this spring with a group of speakers who challenge us to think in new ways about the arts, sciences, business and engineering.

“We have such a responsibility with the Nutcracker,” said Christopher Wheeldon, Tony award winning choreographer at the Creative Matters panel on Nov. 29. “The Nutcracker is going to be many children’s first theatrical experience–the first time going to the theater–the gateway to what we hope to be the audience of the future. Everybody remembers their first Nutcracker.”

Pedal if you love NPR,” NPR science correspondent Joe Palca shouted to fellow RAGBRAI cyclists when he and a group of other NPR reporters rode the famous Iowa event in 2015. One NPR lover was University of Iowa Visiting Assistant Professor Julie Reynolds, jointly appointed with the UI Public Policy Center (PPC) and the College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics. Her RAGBRAI riding group, Team Groucho, joined forces with the No Pie Refused (NPR) RAGBRAI team that year, and Reynolds hosted both teams for the night in her home when they came through Coralville, Iowa.

Recrafting the iconic ballet The Nutcracker for one of the most renowned ballet companies in the country is no small feat.

The creative team reimagining the Christmas classic will join members of the Joffrey Ballet to discuss the process at 5:30p.m., Nov. 28 at Hancher Auditorium. The event is co-sponsored by the Creative Matters lecture series.

The panel discussion is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required to attend.