Founded in New York City in 2007, ReelAbilities challenges stereotypes, celebrates authentic disability representation in movies, and expands opportunities for disabled creators worldwide. The 2025 Des Moines festival is “A Taste of ReelAbilities,” screening a combination of features and shorts over two days — first at The Harkin Institute, then at the Des Moines Art Center, showing […]
Pulitzer Prize winner Art Cullen has established himself as an essential witness to the transformation of rural America, thanks to his unique perspective as editor of The Storm Lake Times. His new book, We Crapped In Our Nests: Notes From the Edge of the World, offers an unflinching examination of how we’ve degraded our environment and communities, […]
Join the Iowa Disability Policy Alliance for a panel discussion, resource fair, and networking reception at the Tom and Ruth Harkin Center on November 13, 2025. Panelists will discuss the state of disability legislation at the federal, state, and local levels. Members of the Iowa Disability Policy Alliance will have tables with information and resources […]
The 2026 Harkin Retirement Security Symposium will focus on a broader financial wellness theme supported by panels along the continuum of retirement security policy issues. The speakers will discuss policies supporting retirement savings access and accumulation, navigating Social Security and Medicare, and the intergenerational impacts of these programs, access to retirement planning, retirement income decisions, […]
Overview Please join the Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement for an important event highlighting the challenges we’re facing and the progress being made across the nation in the fight against cancer, with a specific focus on environmental health and lifestyle medicine. The 2026 Harkin on Wellness Symposium will take place on March […]
Join us for the 2026 Sussman Lecture featuring photojournalist and educator KC McGinnis, whose work has been published by leading national outlets and takes him across Iowa and the country to document the complex relationship between people and the environment. In his talk, “Social by Nature: Environmental Photojournalism for a More Hopeful Future,” McGinnis explores the stories behind […]
The 2026 Harkin Retirement Security Symposium will focus on a broader financial wellness theme supported by panels along the continuum of retirement security policy issues. The speakers will discuss policies supporting retirement savings access and accumulation, navigating Social Security and Medicare, and the intergenerational impacts of these programs, access to retirement planning, retirement income decisions, […]
An Evening with Charlie Cook will take place on Wednesday April 15, 2026. The event offers an opportunity to hear insight and analysis on the state of American politics from one of the nation’s leading authorities on the U.S. political landscape. As the country moves through another pivotal election cycle, Cook will share his perspective […]
Brian Goldstone, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America, will deliver the fall Sussman lecture, presented by The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement in partnership with Anawim Housing on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. Goldstone’s presentation will highlight how the working poor have […]
Join the Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement for a policy discussion on the challenges for the Social Security program and reforms to strengthen it for future generations. The Social Security program is the main retirement security pillar for Americans, paying guaranteed lifetime income protected from inflation for everyone eligible for Social Security […]