Discoveries to

Postdoctoral researcher
Matt Goddeeris
steps toward
ways to prevent
muscular dystrophy.

Prevent
Disease

IOWA
GRADUATE EDUCATION at

Spring 2014

Innovative. Interdisciplinary. Impactful.

Innovative. Interdisciplinary. Impactful. Graduate Education at Iowa.

ON THE COVER
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242
www.grad.uiowa.edu
gradcoll@uiowa.edu

Office of the Dean

201 Gilmore Hall
319.335.2143
Discoveries to

Prevent
Disease

Postdoctoral researcher
Matt Goddeeris
steps toward
ways to prevent
muscular dystrophy.

John C. Keller, Ph.D.

Associate Provost and Dean
Professor, College of Dentistry
john-keller@uiowa.edu

Dale Eric Wurster, Ph.D.

Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs

Professor, College of Pharmacy
dale-e-wurster@uiowa.edu

Daniel Berkowitz, Ph.D.

Associate Dean of Student and

Administrative Affairs
Professor, School of Journalism
and Mass Communication
dan-berkowitz@uiowa.edu

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH: Matt Goddeeris, a UI postdoctoral

researcher in molecular physiology and biophysics, is examining
how the interaction between the protein dystroglycan and the
enzyme LARGE could help prevent muscular dystrophy.
Illustration from iStockphoto.

Minnetta Gardinier, Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Graduate Recruitment

and Professional Development
Associate Professor, Pharmacology
m-gardinier@uiowa.edu

Office of Academic Affairs

Graduate Education at Iowa

205 Gilmore Hall

319.335.2135

Published each fall and spring

by the Graduate College at the University of Iowa

Heidi Arbisi-Kelm, M.S., M.Ed.

Online at www.grad.uiowa.edu
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John Riehlwriter, photos
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Associate Director, UI Grad Success

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Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator

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2

Spring 2014

IOWA
GRADUATE EDUCATION at

Spring 2014

Innovative. Interdisciplinary. Impactful.

CoverPostdoctoral research
12

MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY

Matt Goddeeris steps toward discovery of disease prevention.

Notable research & mentoring

4

EXCELLENCE in TEACHING

Geyer and Laronde win top mentoring honors.

INDUSTRY JOBS for Ph.D.s

Certel talks about preparing for expanded career options.

CAREERS OUTSIDE the ACADEMY

IOWA SROP SUCCESS

UI Grad Success delivers a conference for graduate

students interested in broadening their career search.

Donald Brown, an Iowa SROP alum, is named a Rhodes Scholar.

Features
10

LESSONS from the PAST

16

BUILDING a POETRY PORTAL

18

CLEAN WATER

20

REBUILDING and REMEMBERING

Miller studies WWII migration & economic development policy.

UI distance education courses open opportunities.

UI study identifies best methods for measuring radium in flowback water.

How the March 2011 tsunami affected

communities on the Sanriku coastline of Japan.

Innovative. Interdisciplinary. Impactful. Graduate Education at Iowa.

Migration &
economic development
How post-World War II policy has shaped todays world

rian Joseph-Keysor Millers dissertation connects the political,

social, and economic histories of three countriesTurkey,
Germany, and the United States.

Miller, a doctoral student in history, examines the post-World War II

West German guest-worker program that employed Turkish citizens.
The United States wanted West Germany to be rebuilt as soon as
possible after World War II, because it would provide a strong bulwark
against the Cold War threat of communist Russia. The Marshall Plan,
a series of economic strategies and reforms initiated by the U.S. to
rebuild post-war Europe, helped fund the rapid economic recovery in
West Germany that in turn led to the need to import guest-workers to

development in Turkey and saw a great opportunity in a labor

migration plan designed to temporarily send workers abroad to
receive training and employment. The workers were expected to
return home to invest their money and newly-acquired knowledge
in Turkish industry.
As it turned out, labor migration did not go as planned, shortcircuiting economic development in Turkey. The most successful
Turkish entrepreneurs often stayed in Germany, while those who were
less successful more often returned home.
I look at how the narrative of modernization theory in the 1950s
planners as they sought successful development strategies, says Miller,
whose dissertation advisor is Professor Paul Greenough.
Brian Joseph-Keysor Miller in Berlin, taken in early 2012 while he was working

Modernization theory was a response to Marxisma model that

was no longer an acceptable development tool in the Cold War U.S.
ideological terms.

Development policy
is not one size
fits all and should
be offered in the
best interests of a
particular society.

Lessons from the past

Miller says there are lessons to be learned from the failure of the West
German guest-worker program in Turkey.
One of the reasons I am interested in the history of migration
and development is in the hope that we can move towards more just
and verdant programs in the future, Miller says. Program planners
should take time to understand a particular plans applicability to the
unique contexts of different societies. Development policy is not one
society and certainly not in the interest of anothers foreign policy.

10

Spring 2014

HISTORY

Huts hang off a cliff in Saffronbolu, Turkey (a UNESCO world heritage site). Photo by Brian Joseph-Keysor Miller, 2012.

Funding for research

Funding strategiesa Q & A

Millers research in Turkey included studies of

Turkish archival documents and interviews with
Turkish citizens in their native language.

You have received several fellowships as a

graduate student. What is your success rate in
earning funding?

I also learned that little money leads to big

money. The more small fellowships youre able
to get gives you a better looking CV. Then you
are more likely to get a big one.

He was able to pursue such a thorough

examination of the German-Turkish Guest
Working Program because he earned several
key external fellowships, as well as internal
awards from the University of Iowa.

A I maybe get 1 out of every 5 fellowships

Q When should you apply for fellowships?

A You have to be a cycle ahead. When youre

External funding

that I apply for. You should apply for a wide

spectrum of funding. Whenever you apply for
a fellowship and dont get it, you should ask
for critiques [to help you understand] why you
didnt get it. Then, you can learn from that
and write a stronger application next time. You
need perseverance. This is a marathon, not
a sprint.

Have these tough economic times

made it more difficult to find external
funding opportunities?

A Theres less funding. Its getting tighter and

Miller won fellowships from the Institute of

International Education and the Institute of
Turkish Studies in Washington D.C., a German
Academic Exchange Service Scholarship,
and a U.S. Department of State Critical
Language Scholarship.

Do you have any tricks of the trade for

securing external funding?

UI funding

A You need to tailor your application to

Millers internal awards include a T. Anne

Cleary International Research Fellowship, a
Graduate College Summer Fellowship, and a
Department of History Graduate Fellowship.

the funders mission statement. You need to

research the funders. Its not enough to have
one solid application that goes out
to everybody.

thinking about academic year 2015-16, you

should start planning before you get into
calendar year 2015.

tighter, but with perseverance and some good

luck youre able to find your way through.
There are seats at the table, just less seats at
the moment.

Innovative. Interdisciplinary. Impactful. Graduate Education at Iowa.

11

The University of Iowa

Iowa City, IA 52242
www.grad.uiowa.edu
gradcoll@uiowa.edu

Support Iowa.
All of your
support
goes
directly
to fund
UI graduate
students.

Kyle Moody
2013 Summer Fellow
2013-14 Ballard Seashore Dissertation Year Fellow
Ph.D. in Journalism and Mass Communication (2014)

Scan to

www.givetoiowa.org/graduate
24

Spring 2014