Professor Bloom is the author of the book "Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America." His book details the story of a Hasidic Jewish population that moved to the small farming town of Postville, Iowa to start a glatt kosher processing plant. Bloom discusses the changes that Postville went through when a new community with a different culture moves in.

Bloom is a professor of journalism at the University of Iowa. He is also a former reporter for the Los Angeles Times, and the author of "Inside the Writer's Mind." Bloom recently wrote an essay on how to tell a story that appeared in Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, and he has had many essays printed in different publications, including Smithsonian, DoubleTake, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Salon.

UND's Great Conversation Series is a part of the University's 125th Anniversary Celebration