University of Iowa professor to participate in White House event

A University of Iowa faculty member will participate in the White House launch of the American Commonwealth Partnership (ACP) Tuesday, Jan. 10 in Washington, D.C.

The ACP is a year-long initiative to promote higher education as an agent of democracy and a force for public good.

John Spencer, a UI professor of psychology and director of the Delta Center, will attend the event to discuss the possibility of the UI playing a leading role in a new initiative on “civic science” during 2012.

The goal of the initiative is to re-think science as a tool of human empowerment and civic agency-making science more relevant in the daily lives of citizens and also changing the process of how science is done to invite reciprocal dialogue between scientists and citizens.

The event will be streamed live on the Internet from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday CST at

http://www.whitehouse.gov/live.