Eko and Lillios Awarded Stanley International Programs-Obermann Fellowships

Lyombe Eko of the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Katina Lillios of the UI Department of Anthropology have been awarded the Stanley International Programs-Obermann Center Research Fellowships.

These awards are given to Obermann Center Scholars whose research focuses on international issues. In addition to receiving an award of $3,000 for travel and research support, the fellows will present their projects during the Spring 2009 International Mondays lecture series, Lillios will present “The Archaeology of Social Collapse: A View from the Neolithic-Early Bronze Age Mortuary Site of Bolóres, Portugal” on Monday, March 2. Eko will present “Many Spiders; One World Wide Web: Towards a Taxonomy of Internet Law and Regulation” on Monday, March 9. The lectures, co-sponsored by International Programs and the Obermann Center, are open to the public and begin at noon at the Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A. For more information, visit http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/international-mondays.asp#Spring09schedule.

Eko’s work involves the regulatory regimes of different nation-states, transterritorial organizations and international organizations and how they address the same or similar global problems posed by the Internet and other evolving communications technologies. His research is a seven-part typology of Internet regulation that classifies and explains international Internet regulatory regimes in terms of their legislative initiatives and decision-making.

Lillios’ research has focused on excavating and analyzing a mortuary rockshelter of Bolóres in Torres Vedras, Portugal from the late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age (2800-1800 BC). The goal of her project is to understand the factors underlying the complex societies in the Iberian Peninsula that emerged and then collapsed. Because of the long history of the Bolóres burials, the area can be evaluated for the changes that accompanied and contributed to the centralization and fragmentation of polities in Southwest Iberia. Lillios’ research will provide broader understanding of the factors that lead to sociopolitical devolution.

These fellowships are supported by the Stanley-UI Foundation Support Organization, UI International Programs and the C. Esco and Avalon L. Obermann Fund.

UI International Programs enables UI students, faculty, staff and the public to learn from and about the world. Its offices, degree programs and events provide life-changing opportunities on campus and abroad, heighten intellectual and cultural diversity, and give all university constituents access to vital international knowledge. For more information visit http://international.uiowa.edu/ or call 319-353-2700. International Programs is part of the UI Office of the Provost.

Obermann Center for Advanced Studies provides an environment and resources for reflection and writing and for the exchange of ideas. Scholars from a broad range of disciplines and institutions interact with one another and with the public to create and communicate new knowledge and to establish a vibrant intellectual community. It is located at N103 Oakdale Hall, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, telephone 319-335-4034, on the web: www.uiowa.edu/obermann/.