The University of Iowa College of Education has launched a new interdisciplinary global education initiative designed to revitalize the university’s historic “Iowa Idea” through collaborative, cross-disciplinary teaching and research.
This course is an interdisciplinary, collaborative effort with the College of Engineering and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The project will take more than 20 undergraduate and graduate students to Iceland in July 2026 to conduct high-altitude balloon research ahead of the total solar eclipse.
The initiative begins with a Spring 2026 course, The Iowa Idea at Great Heights, taught by an instructional team of faculty from all three colleges and anchored by Steve McGuire of the School of Art, Art History and Design.
Bringing together students from education, engineering, the sciences, and the arts, the project centers on designing, building, and launching near-space research balloons.
The initiative will culminate in the launch of student-designed payloads during the August 12 solar eclipse in Iceland’s Westfjords. The course aims to promote cross-disciplinary teamwork, problem solving and real-time group decision making under time and cost constraints, simulating real-world constraints students will face in their careers.
More than a traditional study-abroad course, the Iceland Ballooning Project is designed as a real-world research and design experience that mirrors how knowledge is created across disciplines—through iteration, uncertainty, collaboration, and field-based problem-solving.
Donate
If you want to know more about how you can support this program financially, please reach out to Mae Parker, executive director of development, at 319-467-3514 or mae.parker@foriowa.org.
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Contact Us
Amira Nash
Associate Director of School Partnerships and Global Education Initiatives
amira-nash@uiowa.edu