Fairfield University’s Open VISIONS Forum and the Bank of America Women and Leadership Series will welcome #1 best-selling memoirist Tara Westover for a virtual lecture about the power of knowledge to overcome the most difficult circumstances.
… a beautiful testament to the power of education to open eyes and change lives.
— Amy Chua, in a New York Times book review of Educated
The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University will welcome Tara Westover, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Educated, for a livestreamed lecture on Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. This virtual event is the second in the Quick Center’s Open VISIONS Forum | Bank of America Women and Leadership series, designed to open minds and celebrate female leaders around the world.
Tara Westover was born in rural Idaho to survivalist parents who opposed nearly all facets of present-day Western society, including public education and modern medicine. The youngest of seven children, Westover did not step foot in a classroom until the age of 17. She spent her days isolated from the mainstream, working in her family’s junkyard or stewing herbs for her mother, a self-taught herbalist and midwife.
Lacking any formal education, Westover taught herself enough mathematics and literacy to gain admission to Brigham Young University, where she studied history and learned for the first time about pivotal events such as the Holocaust and the Civil Rights movement — things she had never before heard of. Graduating magna cum laude in 2008, she was awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship and in 2014 earned her PhD in history from Trinity College, Cambridge. Westover is currently a senior research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, where she works on projects related to media and political polarization.
Westover’s heart-wrenching memoir, Educated, recounts her harrowing upbringing and her struggle to reconcile her quest for knowledge with her desire to be loyal to her family. In 2018, Educated debuted #1 on The New York Times bestseller list and remained there for more than a year. Described by Amy Chua in the New York Times Book Review as “… a beautiful testament to the power of education to open eyes and change lives,” the book has sold more than 4 million copies to date.
Bill Tommins, Southern Connecticut Market President, Bank of America, will introduce Westover before the March 16 virtual lecture. Dalila Borges, senior vice president, national operations performance executive at Bank of America will join Fairfield University’s Philip Eliasoph, PhD, professor of art history and visual culture, and the Rev. Gerry Blasczcak, S.J., vice president for Mission and Ministry, for a panel discussion with Westover after her presentation.
Tara Westover’s lecture will be presented in virtual format on March 16 at 7:30 p.m. This event is sponsored by Bank of America, Moffly Media, TV Eyes, Delamar Southport, Delamar Spa, the Artisan, and Abbey Tent & Party Rentals; it is also part of the 50th anniversary celebration of women at Fairfield University. Tickets are $10-$20 and available at Quickcenter.com. This and several upcoming premiere Quick events are free for Fairfield University students and employees, President's Circle and Bellarmine Society members, and Quick Center Members. To become a Quick Member, visit quickcenter.com or call the box office at 203-254-4010 or toll free at 1-877-ARTS-396.
