9 faculty awarded Arts and Humanities Initiative grants

AHI funding will enable Conway to complete filming, which includes telling the story of the first successful gene therapy trial for Huntington's disease.

Laura Gede, assistant professor of instruction, Cinematic Arts, CLAS

One Long Arm Blind - Feature Film

The documentary "One Long Arm Blind" narrates the tumultuous history and community around Bubbly Creek, a stretch of the Chicago River on the Southside that Upton Sinclair described as "a great open sewer a hundred or two feetwide." AHI funding will enable Gede, as director, to capture changes in the ecosystem and community over the span of a year on 15mm film.

In addition to producing a feature-length film ready for the festival circuit, Gede's research will expand the accessible and sustainable filmmaking techniques taught to UI students.

Kate Hinshaw, assistant professor, Cinematic Arts, CLAS

Imperfect Water

Water contamination from perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances-PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals"-affects 73 million Americans, including those downstream of the chemical company Dupont in southeastern North Carolina. "Imperfect Water," a feature film from Hinshaw, captures the watershed's past and present, and compels the audience to contemplate what it means to exist in an imperfect environment.

"Imperfect Water" contributes to scholarship and creative practice at the intersection of documentary filmmaking, environmental humanities, and disability studies. Additionally, the film will use 16mm film that will be hand processed using water from local waterways to create watergrams, a technique pioneered atIowa by David Gatten.

AHI funding will help Hinshaw create a 15-minute work sample that she will use to secure larger grants.

Elizabeth Oakes, professor of instruction and director of the University of Iowa String Quartet Residency Program, School of Music, CLAS

Exploring The String Quartets of Beethoven and Dvořakin Cultural Context

To explore historical resources and collaborations only available in the Czech Republic, Oakes will take the UI student members of the Seamark and Conifer quartets to Prague for 10 days to practice and study the works of Ludwig van Beethoven and Antonín Dvořák. Dvořák wrote the ever-popular "American" Quartet in Spillville, Iowa.

AHI funding will finance a reverse pilgrimage of Dvořák's visit to Iowa, helping the students develop more culturally and historically informed interpretations of the string quartet repertoire from this part of the world.

Kaia Olsen, professor of practice, Cinematic Arts, CLAS

InTween- An Experimental Narrative "4DGS" Volumetric Imaging Project

"InTween" is a short, experimental moving-image narrative that explores identity, transformation, and emotional embodiment through a new technique called 4D Gaussian Splatting (4DGS)-a cutting-edge method of capturing and rendering real-world movement and form in a fully navigable 3D space.

With AHI funding, Olsen will translate his research and prototype of the technique into a fully realized visual narrative.

riel Sturchio, Assistant Professor of Instruction, Photography, CLAS

I See You See Me: Iowa City Chapter

"I See You See Me" is a community-based photography project and workshop series centered on LGBTQ+, nonbinary, and chronically ill or disabled individuals. Debuted in Austin, Texas, the program provides local residentswith hands-on photography training as well as a chance to explore photography as a tool for self-representation, connection, and care. The program is run through Begin Collective which was co-created in 2020 with their twin sibling, Bianca Sturchio.

AHI funding will enable Sturchio to bring the program to the Iowa City community and support an undergraduate research fellow.

Newell Ann Van Auken, associate professor of instruction, Department of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures, & Cultures, CLAS

Translating Cinderella

"Translating Cinderella" will produce an anthology of contemporary translations of Cinderella tales, representing the full geographic span of the Cinderella story cycle and including tales from Asia and the Middle East that have never been translated into English. Van Auken will use the AHI funds to supplement translation costs.

Bingbing Zhang, assistant professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, CLAS

Sifting Through the AI Slop: Folk Theories of AI Slop and Associated Consequences

By exploring how journalists and social-mediausers talk about and react to what they call "AI slop," Zhang creates a window into truth, credibility, and authenticity in a world infused with ever more generative AI.

AHI support will provide Zhangthe opportunity for more in-depth research into the social, cultural, and ethical dimensions of AI-mediated communication.