The CLAS Dissertation Writing Fellowship is awarded annually to 10 graduate students, providing time and funding for the completion of a PhD dissertation. The fellowship provides a total of $14,000 to each student. Dominic Dongilli’s thesis “Interspecies America: Animal Lives and Reproductive Politics at the Smithsonian National Zoo” examines encounters between human and nonhuman animals at the Smithsonian National Zoo, arguing that zoos mediate U.S. identities, cultures, and environmental futures in which humans and nonhuman bodies interact.

Stephen Warren, professor of history and American Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), received the Distinguished Achievement in Publicly Engaged Research Award. The award recognizes an individual faculty member who has put addressing public needs and direct engagement with the public, in the service of improving quality of life through research, at the forefront of his or her academic activities.

Dominic Dongilli, graduate student in American Studies, discusses the history of Easter Monday at the Smithsonian National Zoo and how it became a tradition for Black families in Washington, D.C.

Naomi Greyser, faculty member in American Studies, is one of four University of Iowa faculty members are recipients of the 2024 President and Provost Award for Teaching Excellence, recognizing their exceptional and ongoing contributions to student learning and success. Established in 2004 by the UI Council on Teaching, the President and Provost Award for Teaching Excellence is the university’s highest honor for teaching. Each year, the council selects three clinical-track or tenure-track faculty members and one instructional-track or adjunct faculty member to receive the award.

A record 67.8 million American adults are expected to bet US$23.1 billion on Super Bowl LVIII, according to a new survey conducted by Morning Consult for the American Gaming Association. The estimated number of bettors has increased 35% from the previous Super Bowl, while the total amount being bet is estimated to have shot up from $16 billion in 2023. Both figures would represent records – fitting for a Super Bowl held in Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the U.S. For the NFL, partnering with sportsbooks has been a boon for business. The relationship appears to be a natural one: Though sports betting was illegal in most of the country until 2018, it’s always been a part of sports fandom. But as a sports media scholar, I find the league’s embrace of gambling so striking because for most of its history, the NFL had pushed the government for stricter regulations, not more lenient ones.

Peter Larsen discusses gender and civil rights in the judiciary process.

Travis Vogan, professor of American Studies and Director of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies discusses the rise of sports entertainment and how it changes the way people are interacting with professional sports.

Associate professor Naomi Greyser, who teaches American studies and Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa, joins the program to discuss the role pink plays in our culture and why Barbie looms so large.

The Latin American Studies Association (LASA) Latinx Studies Section (LSS) Outstanding Article Award was awarded to Eric Vázquez, Assistant Professor in American Studies and Latino Studies, for his article titled, "'Your Life Is One-Hundred-Percent at Risk': The Caravan of the Mutilated and the Internationalism of the Vulnerable."

American Studies PhD candidate Dominic Dongilli has been accepted to the NEH Summer Institute on "Willa Cather: Space, Place, Archive." The project he proposed is concerned with how "restored" prairies and re-wilded bison herds function as an archive of settler colonial frontier nostalgia.