Events Archive
Events Archive
Current Semester
Live from Prairie Lights | Anna Barker in conversation with DK Nnuro - "13 Notes from Napoleon, Iowa: Musings on the Edge of the French Empire"
Between 1800 and 1803 the future state of Iowa was ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul of the French Republic. 13 Notes from Napoleon, Iowa: Musings on the Edge of the French Empire illuminates some aspects of Iowa’s French past, such as cities named after the Napoleonic battles of Marengo and Waterloo, and explains the mystery of Iowa’s distinctly French-looking flag. Along the way, Dr. Barker muses on other Napoleon-related matters, such as Empire waist gowns, Goethe's and Byron's Bonapartism, the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo, the Congress of Vienna, and to what extent Europe's current internal contradictions have been impacted by its Napoleonic past.
Book Club at the Museum
Students, join the book club that meets monthly inside the iconic Old Capitol Museum, with books of all genres, chosen by you. Come read, wonder, and connect as we transform this timeless building into a cozy retreat for shared stories and spirited discussion in the Pentacrest Museums first ever student book club.
For the Spring 2026 semester, Book Club @ the Museum will meet on the following Mondays from 7 to 8 p.m. at Old Cap:
Feb. 2 (Please note: for February's book club meeting, we'll get to...
Art & Write Night
Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces.
Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists.
Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session and...
Jeffrey Yang Reading
Join us for a reading by Jeffrey Yang:
Jeffrey Yang is the author of the poetry collections Line and Light; Hey, Marfa; Vanishing-Line; and An Aquarium. He is the translator of Bei Dao’s long poem, Sidetracks and autobiography, City Gate, Open Up; Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo’s June Fourth Elegies; Ahmatjan Osman’s Uyghurland, the Farthest Exile; Su Shi’s East Slope, and an anthology of classical Chinese poems, Rhythm 226. He is the editor of the poetry anthologies Birds, Beasts, and...