Fairfield University Announces February 2026 Arts and Culture Events

Press release

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (February 2, 2026)— Fairfield University announces a robust schedule of arts and culture events throughout February 2026, featuring acclaimed dance and theater performances, influential speakers, major art exhibitions, and engaging programs for the campus and greater community.

Taking place at venues across campus, this month’s offerings highlight contemporary creativity, global perspectives, and critical conversations. February programming includes performances by BODYTRAFFIC and Minty Fresh Circus, the Global Theatre: Performance Series, and events presented by the Philip I. Eliasoph Open VISIONS Forum, with featured guests such as Ken Burns, Elaine Pagels, Jim Sciutto, and Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. Many events connect to America250: The Promise and Paradox, Fairfield University’s ongoing exploration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, underscoring the arts as a catalyst for dialogue, reflection, and community engagement in Connecticut and beyond.

REGINA A. QUICK CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts continues its 35th season with a February schedule consisting of theatre, music, dance, circus, and inspiring speakers. Events this month include performances presented by the Quick Center, as well as talks and productions sponsored by departments and programs across campus.

Philip I. Eliasoph Open VISIONS Forum
A Conversation with Ken Burns
Tuesday, February 3 | 7:30 p.m.
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts and Dolan School of Business Event Hall
Ken Burns recently released his newest series, The American Revolution, and will join our community for a fireside chat that takes you on a journey through time as he blends meticulous research, rich visuals, and profound insights to humanize historical figures.

Global Theatre: Performance Series
Hell Has an Exit: Finding Freedom Behind Bars
Friday, February 6 | 7 p.m.
Wien Experimental Theatre, Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
The Quick Center for the Arts celebrates the 10th anniversary of its Global Theatre: Performances Series, curated by Cheryl Wiesenfeld. Returning to the roots of a previously shared theatre work written and directed by Ron Jenkins, “Surviving Troubled Waters: From Prison to Freedom through Music” shares the real stories of two women incarcerated for 37 years. In this new retelling, the music and stories are inspired by a mother and daughter who have their own complicated relationships due to their past experiences with incarceration and how they moved forward as individuals and with each other. Featuring BL Shirelle and Debra Taylor.

Philip I. Eliasoph Open VISIONS Forum
Scott Rothkopf, “The Whitney Museum of American Art: A New Paradigm for Artists and Audiences"
Monday, February 9 | 7:30 p.m.
Dolan School of Business Event Hall
As the Fairfield University Art Museum presents For Which it Stands…, Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum Scott Rothkopf will address the history of American art. He will be joined in conversation by Henry Adams, the Ruth Couter Heede Professor of Art History at Case Western Reserve University.

Philip I. Eliasoph Open VISIONS Forum
Elaine Pagels, PhD, “In God We Trust: Faith in America 1776-2026”
Tuesday, February 17 | 7:30 p.m.
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
The Open VISIONS Forum presents Harrington Professor of History of Religion at Princeton University Elaine Pagels, PhD, renowned scholar of religion and National Book Award-winning author, for a timely talk titled “In God We Trust: Faith in America 1776-2026.” Drawing on decades of groundbreaking research into early Christian texts and the history of religious thought, Dr. Pagels will examine the evolving role of faith in American life from the nation’s founding to the present day. Presented in collaboration with the Office of Mission & Ministry and the Office of the President.

BODYTRAFFIC
Friday, February 20 | 8 p.m.
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
Internationally renowned Los Angeles-based dance company BODYTRAFFIC takes the Quick Center stage with a dynamic program inspired by iconic musicians of the 20th century. Led by artistic director Tina Finkelman Berkett, the company presents an eclectic mix of styles and voices, including works by Trey McIntire. Celebrated for its vitality, musicality, and storytelling, BODYTRAFFIC invites audiences to experience dance that is both powerful and deeply human. Two pieces are choreographed by Trey McIntire, one set to music by soul-singing icon Etta James, and the other the music of Buddy Holly. The third piece is choreographed by Matthew Neenan, inspired by the inimitable Peggy Lee, whose music spurs us to embrace the passion of living even in the darkest of times.

Minty Fresh Circus
by Monique Martin
Sunday, February 22 | 7 p.m.
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
Named in tribute to Harriet Tubman (whose childhood nickname was Minty), Minty Fresh Circus brings to the stage a raucous, playful reimagination of circus and dance that infuses African performance rituals, ceremonies, and cultural traditions.

Philip I. Eliasoph Open VISIONS Forum
Jim Sciutto, “Reporting Foreign Affairs: How Does It Impact the USA?”
Monday, February 23 | 7:30 p.m.
Dolan School of Business Event Hall
CNN chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto, anchor of The Brief with Jim Sciutto, reports on and analyzes all aspects of U.S. national security, including foreign policy, the military, the intelligence community, and the State Department. In this program, Sciutto will examine how foreign policy, national security, and international affairs shape life in the U.S., offering timely insight into the evolving global order and America’s role within it.

Philip I. Eliasoph Open VISIONS Forum: Espresso
Elizabeth Weitzman, “American Women in Film”
Wednesday, February 25 | 7:30 p.m.
Dolan School of Business Event Hall
A journalist, film critic, author, and longtime voice in entertainment media, Elizabeth Weitzman will explore the impact and representation of women in American cinema, drawing on her extensive experience covering film and interviewing leading figures in the industry. Presented in collaboration with the Film, Television, and Media Arts program. Weitzman has interviewed hundreds of celebrities and written about entertainment for the New York Times, the Village Voice, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Interview, and many others.

FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM

Virtual Meditation and Mindfulness
Monday, February 9 | 5 p.m.
Virtual
Join Jackie DeLise, master certified meditation and mindfulness teacher and stress management expert, for a virtual guided meditation class. DeLise will share ancient wisdom for our modern lifestyle, and will guide you in becoming your true self. No prior experience necessary. Learn how to cultivate inner calm, clarity, peace and harmony in your life. All are welcome!

Meditation and Mindfulness at the Museum
Tuesday, February 10 | 5 p.m.
Bellarmine Hall Galleries, Bellarmine Hall
Join us in the Bellarmine Hall Galleries for restorative sessions led by teacher Jackie DeLise. DeLise is a master certified meditation and mindfulness teacher and stress management expert.

Art in Focus: Childe Hassam (1859-1935), Italian Day, May 1918, 1918, oil on canvas, 36 x 26 in. Art Bridges.
Thursday, February 12 | 12 p.m.
Bellarmine Hall Galleries, Bellarmine Hall
Join us as we discuss some of the works on view in For Which It Stands... in an informal setting, led by Curator of Education and Academic Engagement Michelle DiMarzo.

Virtual Art in Focus: Childe Hassam (1859-1935), Italian Day, May 1918, 1918, oil on canvas, 36 x 26 in. Art Bridges.
Thursday, February 12 | 1 p.m.
Bellarmine Hall Galleries, Bellarmine Hall
Join us as we discuss some of the works on view in For Which It Stands... in an informal virtual setting, led by Curator of Education and Academic Engagement Michelle DiMarzo.

Lecture: "Pictures and Progress: The Path of Black Liberation in American Photography"
Thursday, February 12 | 5:30 p.m.
Wien Experimental Theatre, Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts and Streaming
Sarah Churchill, PhD, is adjunct professor of Visual & Performing Arts at Fairfield University. Join an intimate crowd in the Wien Experimental Theatre for an exploration of the role that photography has played in Black politics, identity, and civil rights. Churchill’s talk is being presented in conjunction with the exhibition For Which It Stands... (January 23-July 25, 2026).

Artful Evenings at the Museum
Thursday, February 19 | 6 p.m.
Museum Classroom, Bellarmine Hall
Join us for an Artful Evening! Bring your own art projects to work on in a calm-but-social atmosphere or take advantage of the projects designed by museum educator Elizabeth Vienneau. Sketching supplies will also be available to take into the galleries.

Family Days at the Museum - Red, White, and YOU!: A Comics Workshop
Saturday, February 21 | 12:30 & 2:30 p.m.
Lobby, Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
Escape the chill and draw some comics with us! Participants will be guided in creating a comic-strip-style illustration, depicting either a significant moment in American history, or an event from their personal or family history.

Lecture: “Beyond the Wine-Dark Sea: Sardis Between East and West”
Tuesday, February 24 | 5 p.m.
Kelley Center Presentation Room, Aloysius P. Kelley Center
Alexis Belis, PhD, Associate Curator of Greek and Roman Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, will explore new discoveries and interpretations of the museum’s renowned collection from Sardis, the ancient Lydian capital celebrated for its wealth and cross-cultural connections. As the Met prepares a major exhibition on Greek encounters across the Mediterranean, Dr. Belis will examine how recent research on migration, trade, and cultural exchange is reshaping our understanding of these remarkable objects and the diverse worlds that created them.

Lecture: “American Art at the Crossroads: Between WPA Realism and Post-War Abstraction”
Thursday, February 26 | 5 p.m.
Diffley Board Room, Bellarmine Hall and Streaming
Art historian Viviana Bucarelli, PhD, will present a lecture in conjunction with the exhibition For Which It Stands..., exploring the turn from realism to abstraction in American art. This forms part of the Museum's Lehman Lecture Series, funded by the Robert Lehman Foundation.

LECTURES & EVENTS

Book Launch: The Unbroken Coast, by Nalini Jones
Monday, February 2 | 5 p.m.
Kelley Center Presentation Room, Aloysius P. Kelley Center
Celebrate The Unbroken Coast (Knopf, Aug. 2025) by Nalini Jones, assistant professor of English at Fairfield University. Jones will read from her novel exploring Mumbai's changing landscape. Presented by the Arts Institute and the Humanities Institute.

Waide Center for Applied Ethics Seminar Series
Miguel Alzola, "The Virtuous Hypocrite: Aristotle's Doctrine of the Mean in Adversarial Contexts"
Wednesday, February 11 | 4 p.m.
Virtual Event
Miguel Alzola is Professor and William G. Egelhoff Distinguished Research Scholar in Business Law and Ethics at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business. He specializes in ethical theory—particularly virtue ethics—and applied ethics, with current research focused on virtue ethics and moral psychology.
The Waide Center for Applied Ethics Seminar Series provides a forum for building community and advancing research in applied ethics. The series promotes jargon-free, supportive discussions that are accessible to participants from a wide range of disciplines. Invited speakers present work-in-progress or recently published papers on topics relevant to applied ethics. A portion of each session is devoted to Q&A and general discussion.
MLK Convocation: “Challenging Injustice: Fear as Fuel for Change”
Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., PhD
Wednesday, February 11 | 6 p.m.
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
One of the nation’s most prominent scholars, Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., is an author, political commentator, public intellectual, and passionate educator who examines the complex dynamics of the American experience. His writings which include Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul; In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America; and Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, explore Black communities, the difficulties of race in the United States, and the challenges we face as a democracy.

Dr. Glaude is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and the former Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University (2009–2023). He also serves on the Morehouse College Board of Trustees, is a columnist for TIME Magazine and an MSNBC contributor on Morning Joe and Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace.

Ami Ayalon, PhD, How Did Nineteenth Century Iraqi Jews View the World?
Tuesday, February 17 | 5:30 p.m.
Kelley Center Presentation Room, Aloysius P. Kelley Center
Dr. Ami Ayalon's scholarly work focuses on the cultural and political history of Arabic-speaking societies in modern times. In recent years he has been mostly interested in two areas of scholarly inquiry: the entry of printing into the Middle East and its wide implications; and Palestinian history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Dr. Ayalon earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Middle Eastern history from Tel Aviv University and his Ph.D. (1980) from Princeton University. From 1980 to 2013 he taught in the Department of Middle Eastern and African History, with visiting appointments at Cornell University, the Woodrow Wilson Center, the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton and Emory Universities. Dr. Ayalon also taught terms at Boğaziçi (Bosphorus) and Brandeis universities, and the University of Denver.

The Diane Feigenson Lectureship in Jewish Literature
Dr. Ashley Walters, "Intimate Radicals: Gender, Jewishness, and Revolution in the American Popular Imaginary”
Thursday, February 19| 7:30 p.m.
Kelley Center Presentation Room, Aloysius P. Kelley Center
In the early 1900s, a handful of unconventional romantic relationships emerged within the American radical Left. Progressive settlement houses, socialist gatherings, and literary bohemias provided an ideal setting for individuals from diverse backgrounds to meet and, in some instances, fall in love. Prof. Ashley Walters will tell the story of a group of young, East European Jewish women and white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant men—all of whom became notable figures in American literature, domestic and international affairs, or early Hollywood—and how they imbued their romantic lives with revolutionary principles.

As Progressive Era radicals rebelled against the constraints of an earlier era, East European Jews—and Jewish women in particular—came to embody a new cosmopolitan ideal and European revolutionary spirit. Drawing on correspondence, newspapers, literature, and film, Prof. Walters reveals the political and cultural contingencies of desire, and how the public reception of these relationships lent credence to a new cultural mythology of Jewish womanhood.

Darrin M. McMahon, PhD, “Certain Unalienable Rights: Pursuing and Obtaining Happiness in 18th century America”
Thursday, February 26 | 5 p.m.
Kelley Center Presentation Room, Aloysius P. Kelley Center
Do human beings have a right to happiness? That novel question animated discussions across the Atlantic world in the 18th century, and in America it was taken up explicitly by the architects of the United States. In this talk, Darrin M. McMahon, PhD, the David W. Little Class of 1944 Professor and Chair of the Department of History at Dartmouth College, will discuss how Americans conceived happiness at the time of the country’s founding and how they aimed to bring it about. Free event presented by the Humanities Institute.

tick, tick... BOOM!
Thursday, February 26 | 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 28 | 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 1 | 2 p.m.
Wien Experimental Theatre
The Fairfield University Theatre Program will present the annual Independent Play Project, a production of tick, tick. BOOM! by Jonathan Larson. A vibrant student-led production, the musical is an autobiographical story about a young composer navigating creativity, ambition, love, and uncertainty in New York City on the brink of turning 30. With an energetic score and heartfelt storytelling, the show captures the urgency and exhilaration of pursuing an artistic life. Sponsored by the Jamie Hulley Arts Foundation

Fairfield University Glee Club Spring Choral Concert: “Let Us Move Along Together”
Friday, February 27 | 6 p.m.
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts