WorldCanvass: Food for Thought

You’re invited to attend WorldCanvass at FilmScene, Iowa City’s non-profit cinema arts organization, 118 East College Street. Concessions will be available for purchase and audience members are invited to enjoy a social hour from 4:00-5:00 p.m. preceding the show.

The UI's "Food for Thought" project--its first ever theme semester--offers a platform for engagement on campus and throughout the state around one of life's constants: food. Join host Joan Kjaer and chefs, restaurateurs, foodies, experts in public health and cultural studies, and others when WorldCanvass explores the ways in which food affects us as individuals and binds us as members of communities. The live program, which is free and open to the public, begins at 5 p.m., January 20, at FilmScene in downtown Iowa City. 

Food sustains us physically. It connects us culturally and emotionally. Food feels like home. And, critically for a state like Iowa, food production provides the basis for our rich and varied agricultural economy. It really is true that we are what we eat--but that’s true in more ways than one. The creation and sustenance of food traditions around the world says much about who we are and where we’ve come from, what we care about and what our values are. WorldCanvass guests will embrace this discussion from multiple vantage points:

Part 1 (5:00-5:25)

Food, imagination, and the power of memory

• Linda Snetselaar, UI associate provost for outreach and engagement
• Lauren Rabinovitz, UI professor, Department of American Studies
• Chuck Swanson, executive director, Hancher Auditorium
  

Part 2 (5:30-5:55)

How we eat

• Kurt Friese, owner and chef, Devotay Restaurant and Bar, Iowa City
• Colleen Theisen, special collections outreach and instruction librarian, UI Libraries
• Kristin Porter, creator of food blog Iowa Girl Eats 
  

Part 3 (6:00-6:25)

Food and cultural resonance

• Ari Ariel, visiting assistant professor, UI Department of Religious Studies
• Naftaly Stramer, co-owner, Oasis Falafel, Iowa City
• Ofer Sivan, co-owner, Oasis Falafel, Iowa City

WorldCanvass is recorded before a live audience for later broadcast on UITV, YouTube, iTunes, and the Public Radio Exchange. Podcasts can be downloaded for free from iTunes and past programs are available through IP’s website at http://international.uiowa.edu/worldcanvass.

We encourage you to use #worldcanvass when posting on social media before, during, and after the show, or mention @uiowaIP on Twitter.

WorldCanvass is a production of UI International Programs in collaboration with FilmScene and University of Iowa Video Services. For more information on WorldCanvass, contact Joan Kjaer at joan-kjaer@uiowa.edu or visit http://international.uiowa.edu/worldcanvass.