WorldCanvass

Series produced by Joan Kjaer

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Image by: Benjamin Partridge 

Intriguing, internationally focused conversations on issues with global impact featuring renowned scholars and thought leaders.

WorldCanvass explores topics that are international in scope and central to our understanding of ourselves as part of the global landscape.

WorldCanvass host Joan Kjaer leads discussions of culture, history, literature, language, politics, and art in an effort to illustrate and illuminate the complexities that make us distinct from one another while celebrating our common humanity.

Each WorldCanvass program embraces a different theme and is taped before a live audience at MERGE in Iowa City, Iowa.

WorldCanvass is produced by International Programs at the University of Iowa. Programs are recorded by Kyle Marxen.


226 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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This WorldCanvass launches the 2023 University of Iowa Provost’s Global Forum titled Festival of Contemporary Music from Israel with an intimate ev...

  • Added: Apr 19, 2023
  • Length: 01:15:47
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An audio tour of the new UI Stanley Museum of Art and all it has to offer.

  • Added: Feb 09, 2023
  • Length: 56:46
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On this program, we explore translation as a key element of global literacy. Faculty from the University of Iowa--The Writing University--discuss t...

  • Added: Jan 26, 2023
  • Length: 01:26:49
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On this program, we celebrate transformative international engagement spearheaded by the winners of the 2022 University of Iowa International Impac...

  • Added: Nov 28, 2022
  • Length: 01:12:56
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What is the link between corruption, anti-corruption campaigns, and the rise of populism? What conditions create an opening for autocratic-leaning,...

  • Added: Apr 22, 2022
  • Length: 29:06
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What is the link between corruption, anti-corruption campaigns, and the rise of populism? What conditions create an opening for autocratic-leaning,...

  • Added: Apr 22, 2022
  • Length: 22:44
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What is the link between corruption, anti-corruption campaigns, and the rise of populism? What conditions create an opening for autocratic-leaning,...

  • Added: Apr 22, 2022
  • Length: 26:06
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An expert panel discusses the impact the Diary of Anne Frank continues to have on generations born long after her death. Among the panelists is Ron...

  • Added: Mar 15, 2022
  • Length: 01:29:38
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Prominent feminist scholars join WorldCanvass host Joan Kjaer in a discussion of “The Global Implications of MeToo.” With expertise on MeToo in th...

Bought by WYAP


  • Added: Feb 04, 2022
  • Length: 01:26:10
  • Purchases: 1
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2021 recipients of the University of Iowa's International Impact Award and Global Student Award are honored in this WorldCanvass program which kick...

  • Added: Dec 03, 2021
  • Length: 01:15:56
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This WorldCanvass explores the life, writings, and legacy of a giant in world literature, Fyodor Dostoevsky. Two hundred years after his birth and...

  • Added: Oct 19, 2021
  • Length: 31:19
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This WorldCanvass explores the life, writings, and legacy of a giant in world literature, Fyodor Dostoevsky. Two hundred years after his birth and...

  • Added: Oct 19, 2021
  • Length: 28:17
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This WorldCanvass explores the life, writings, and legacy of a giant in world literature, Fyodor Dostoevsky. Two hundred years after his birth and...

  • Added: Oct 19, 2021
  • Length: 27:20
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Hancher, the performing arts jewel at the University of Iowa, hosted WorldCanvass on September 10 for an outdoor celebration of community. Iowa Cit...

  • Added: Sep 23, 2021
  • Length: 01:31:30
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Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most original, impactful, and complex figures of the 20th century. Revered around the world for his activism, self-s...

  • Added: Apr 20, 2021
  • Length: 01:27:39
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Physicians, researchers, and advocates for Iowa’s most vulnerable populations address public health and the pandemic, the needs of marginalized and...

  • Added: Mar 17, 2021
  • Length: 01:27:09
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Renowned author Yaa Gyasi, whose novel Homegoing won the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award for best first book and the Pen/Hemingwa...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2021
  • Length: 01:21:49
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Following the disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic, experts discuss the future of global education.

Bought by KUCR 88.3 fm Riverside, Calif.


  • Added: Dec 14, 2020
  • Length: 01:27:39
  • Purchases: 1
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This program celebrates International Education Week and the importance of global engagement. International Impact Awards are presented to Sarah L...

  • Added: Nov 22, 2020
  • Length: 01:26:33
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A wide-ranging discussion about the pursuit of racial justice in a historically white institution like the University of Iowa; racial barriers that...

  • Added: Oct 27, 2020
  • Length: 01:27:08