The University of Iowa is strengthening how it prepares arts and writing students to translate their creative work into meaningful careers by connecting classroom experiences with industry insight and professional pathways.
On April 3, the Office of Writing and Communication partnered with Performing Arts at Iowa to co-host the first-ever Stop/Time Conference for Professional Development in the Arts.
From a pool of more than 100 applicants, the conference brought together 30 University of Iowa undergraduates from across writing and artistic disciplines. Representing the entire creative campus (cinematic, literary, performing, and visual arts), the conference provided a space for students to network with one another and industry insiders.
The conference kicked off at 8 a.m. with a welcome event, and by 9 a.m. students transitioned into their morning workshops: Tell Your Story: Turning Your Experiences into a Compelling Pitch and From Workshop to Workforce: Cover Letter Writing for Undergraduate Students in the Arts. After a short break, students attended a panel called Double Exposure: Being an Artist and an Arts Administrator, and guest speakers included a successful filmmaker and writer who also work full-time in programming and publishing.
After a break for lunch and networking, students finished the day with two more workshops (Kick-Starting an Arts Marketing Career and The Value [or not] of an MFA) and a final panel called Making it Work: UI Alumni on Landing Your Dream Job. For this closing discussion, conference attendees heard from recent graduates working in publishing, digital media, music promotion, and filmmaking.
Daniel Khalastchi, executive director of the Office of Writing and Communication, was incredibly pleased with the event. “The conference was a tremendous success, and we can already see ways to expand this unique opportunity in the future,” he said. “Stop/Time was a prime example of how interdisciplinary our arts/writing communities are at UI. There’s so much on the horizon for Writing and Performing Arts at Iowa, and we are excited to continue our work over the coming years.”
Students also felt the conference was beneficial. Graduating senior Lynne Inouye said she “found it super helpful to talk with Iowa alumni across the arts. It was a great reminder of the sheer breadth of career paths open to us. Hearing their stories helped me reconsider how I was thinking about my own job search and goals post-grad.”
Both the Office of Writing and Communication and Performing Arts at Iowa thank their teams—Danielle Wheeler, Danielle Wilbanks, Lauren Haldeman, and Stephen Lovely—for helping make the conference vision into a reality. Additionally, they also thank the many campus partners who shared knowledge with this eager group of students—including the Pomerantz Career Center, The Iowa Review, FilmScene, Theatre Arts, the Writers’ Workshop, Nonfiction Writing, Englert Theatre, and more. The UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication was also a wonderful collaborator and host, providing space for the conference at the Adler Journalism Building.
University of Iowa students are doing incredible work in the arts. The Stop/Time Professional Development Conference was the first of many new initiatives to support these undergraduates on their exciting career journeys.
2026 Conference Presenters and Panelists:
Danielle Wheeler, Associate Director, Writing Education, UI Office of Writing and Communication
Alaysia McAtee, Career Specialist, UI Pomerantz Career Center
Erin Sherry, Assistant Professor of Instruction, UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Stephen Lovely, Director, Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, UI Office of Writing and Communication
Crystal Lewis, Associate Director, UI Career Development & Strategic Partnerships
Megan Gogerty, Associate Professor of Instruction, UI Theatre Arts
Andrew Sherburne, Filmmaker & Co-Founder/Executive Director, FilmScene
Alicia Wright, Writer & Managing Editor, The Iowa Review
Cat Dooley, Senior Marketing Manager, Englert Theatre
Morgan Jones, editor at Oxford University Press, former editor at Bloomsbury
Mary Mathis, podcast editor for the Wall Street Journal’s “The Journal” & “Search Engine”, photographer for the New York Times & Outside Magazine
Rhiana Chickering, Digital Media Planning & Strategy Specialist, Live Nation Entertainment/Ticketmaster
Philip Rabalais, Filmmaker, Co-Director, Perpetual Motion Pictures
Photo credits: Jason Smith
