Last month, students from the John Charles Meditz College of Arts and Sciences and the Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies traveled to New York City for a learning experience at the Tenement Museum. Led by faculty in public health and the arts, the visit explored how historical research and lived experience intersect.
The trip was part of Fairfield Arts Excursions, a grant-funded program that enables students to engage with world-renowned cultural institutions at minimal personal cost, and was led by Bridget Hussain, PhD, RD, CDCES, CDN, a Fairfield Egan assistant professor of public health, and Julie Leavitt Learson, costume designer for the Fairfield University Theatre Program.
Participants included graduate students Arian Kennedy, Dalmarys Matos, Sidharth Kumar Pradhan, Julian Cruz, and undergraduate students Gabriel Klein ’27, Daisy Degante Garcia ’27, and Maria Lourdes Raquel del Rio Vicario ’29.
“The Arts Institute is thrilled to support this unique interdisciplinary arts excursion as a collaboration between Meditz and Egan,” said Sean Edgecomb, PhD, director of the Arts Institute. “It highlights both the excellence of our faculty as curators as well as myriad opportunities for our students who are learning to incorporate the arts, sometimes unexpectedly, into their own work and future careers.”
A Glimpse into Tenement Life
The day began with a 30-minute documentary introducing students to the origins of New York’s tenements and the founding of the museum itself. The group then participated in a private tour of a preserved apartment, where they learned about the families who once lived there and the realities of daily life in the crowded buildings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Inside the restored space, students encountered the physical realities of life in the tenements: tight quarters, limited resources, and demanding daily routines that shaped family and community structures. In many apartments there was no plumbing, requiring residents to travel multiple flights of stairs to access running water.
“Students reflected that the Tenement Museum helped them to think about the role women played in the home,” said Dr. Hussain, “ and what their lives really looked like in the late 19th and early 20th century.”
Reflection Beyond the Classroom
Following the tour, as the group lunched at the nearby Grey Lady restaurant, they discussed what they had learned and shared personal connections to the stories they encountered.
“Being born and raised in New York City, I was really fascinated to learn about a side of the city I didn’t know much about,” said Degante Garcia. “I especially enjoyed discovering the history of the tenements and homes, and I was struck by how strong the women were in holding their families together—it was truly inspiring.”
For the faculty members, one of the most rewarding aspects of the trip was witnessing how the Tenement Museum experience resonated with students.
“I was pleasantly surprised by how deeply moved students were,” said Dr. Hussain. “They really internalized the process and reflected on their own ancestors’ experiences in a similar context.”
