College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences Stories & News

UNI campus

UNI Gallery of Art to honor Elena Curris with online biennial design exhibition

The University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art will present an online exhibit of art produced by Iowa middle and high school students during the pandemic.

Specimen

Micro Scans, Big Opportunities

Imagine you could see right through an animal. You could examine its bones, or the way the muscles are structured, and see the wispy veins and arteries flowing through the animal right before you.

Piano

UNI School of Music’s Community Music School to offer UNI Children’s Choir this spring

UNI NEWS SERVICES – The University of Northern Iowa Community Music School will offer an in-person, music-making experience for children this spring. The University of Northern Iowa Children’s Choir (UNICC) is a choral ensemble for students in grades 3 through 7.

Spring rehearsals start Feb. 2 at 6:30 p.m., on the UNI campus.

UNI history professor Jennifer McNabb

Who were the Vikings?

Vikings. Scourge of the sea. Pillaging and plundering their way through Europe. The feats of these legendary warriors have persisted throughout history and into the stories of modern pop culture, from the various appearances of Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the popular television series “Vikings” on the History channel. Recently, Vikings made their way into video games with the release of “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla,”  the latest installment of the popular video game series that follows a Viking raider through a conquest of England.

Gallagher Bluedorn

Mudd gift to support Gallagher Bluedorn Renovation

UNI NEWS SERVICES – The renovation of the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center has received a $200,000 gift from Cecelia and Jim Mudd, Sr. The gift from the Mudds will support the estimated $14.5 million renovation of the 20-year old facility.

“I never went there without having a wonderful time and enjoying myself immensely, along with Ceceilia. We went there often, and we enjoyed every single minute,” said Jim Mudd, Sr., chairman of Mudd Advertising and chief spiritual advisor for the company.

A medieval manuscript

Remaking history

It’s not hard to see why Alison Altstatt’s friends call her “the Indiana Jones of medieval manuscripts.” 

Though Altstatt may not be fighting Hollywood villains while sporting a fedora, her adventures have taken her around the globe – discovering long lost artifacts of the past.

Her mission: to recover and reassemble the pages of a precious 13th-century musical manuscript – all while balancing a full teaching schedule at the UNI School of Music.

The first piece of the puzzle

UNI biology major Catherine Yeoman

An unexpected adventure

Catherine yeoman

Growing up in rural, landlocked Iowa, Catherine Yeoman never expected to find her passion in marine biology. 

But as a junior in the UNI Department of Biology, Yeoman has already managed to kick off a unique college experience that’s brought her around the country – studying bottlenose dolphins in Florida and rehabilitating baby seals in Cape Cod.

UNI alum Blake Thomas

Former UNI football player tackling disease research

As a Waterloo West High School graduate turned University of Northern Iowa football player, Blake Thomas has been a Cedar Valley native his entire life. Thomas wanted to make an impact in the classroom as well as on the field, and he initially decided to pursue a major in biology and pre-med. His intention was to go on to medical school, but that all changed when he took public health courses with Disa Cornish, an associate professor in the health, recreation and community services department. 

A new infant simulator at UNI

Next generation learning

The UNI Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders has welcomed a new addition to their department: baby “Paul.”

Weighing just under two and a half pounds, “Paul” is a preterm infant born at 27 weeks. He has a pulse, real hair, and can breathe and cry.

Paul is not a real infant, though, but rather a top-of-the-line high emotion simulator that students in the department will soon begin using for classwork.