African American Studies faculty members Simon Balto, Assistant Professor of History and African American Studies, and Richard Brent Turner, Professor of Religious Studies and African American Studies, have been named 2020 fellows of the American Council of Learned Societies. ACLS Fellowships are among the most prestigious research honors in the humanities. They offer scholars the opportunity to devote six to twelve continuous months to full-time research and writing for a specific project. The awards are portable and are tenable at the fellow's home institution, abroad, or at another appropriate site for research.

Simon Balto, Assistant Professor of History and African American Studies, has earned a highly competitive and prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellowship to enable him to pursue his research. Professor Balto is among just 99 NEH Fellowship recipients nationwide for the 2020-21 cycle, and one of only two from the state of Iowa.

Whaley, a University of Iowa American studies professor, chose the song for the message of perseverance and realizing one’s dreams, an interpretation she embraces closely. While she is originally from Colorado, Whaley has lived in the Midwest for more than half her life. She described herself as an artist, poet, writer, curator, swimmer, yogi, and UI professor.

The UI Department of African American Studies is pleased to announce the Darwin Turner Endowment.

Within the past month, Professor Deborah Whaley has had her work mentioned in the New York Times and been nominated for a poetry award, as well as given an interview on local television and a keynote address.

Associate Professor of Jazz and African-American Studies Damani Phillips has published his first book, What Is This Thing Called Soul: Conversations on Black Culture and Jazz Education. This work breaks new intellectual ground in openly exploring how academic jazz education impacts the Black cultural value of soulfulness and esthetic standards in contemporary jazz music.