Quick Open Minds

Open VISIONS Forum: Espresso Series Returns With Free Virtual Programs That Enlighten and Inspire

Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts has announced the Fall 2021 season of free virtual lectures as part of the Open VISIONS Forum: Espresso Series. Led by Fairfield University Professor Philip Eliasoph, PhD, OVF Espresso programs offer access to experts and panelists who shed light on fascinating topics including art, politics, culture, and more.

Media Contact: Robby Piazzaroli, rpiazzaroli@fairfield.edu, 203-254-4000 x2597

The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University welcomes the return of the Open VISIONS Forum: Espresso series to continue its mission of enlightening attendees with new knowledge on a realm of riveting topics. With great events navigating the exciting and broad world of the arts, those who attend are sure to leave feeling cultivated and inspired. The OVF Espresso series serves the entire community with engaged students and global attendees all side-by-side in virtual conversation.

Philip Eliasoph, PhD, Fairfield University Professor of Visual and Performing Arts and founder/director of the Open VISIONS Forum series, commented, “As these challenging months of Covid-19 lockdown have forced many of us to find inspiration from within, our Open VISIONS Forum: Espresso programs strive to bring us collectively back out into the world of public ideas. Through the comfort and safety of our homes, Fairfield's learning community is finding new conduits for connecting to and sharing with a host of eminent notables, scholars, authors, and creative voices. I'd like to think of this as an 'open classroom without walls' with curious learners - from ages 18 to 88 - finding enrichment in the ongoing journey of the 'life of the mind.'  Please register, watch, and actively participate in the chat. Welcome to this expanding community nourished by the endless joys of educational engagement.”

OVF Espresso programs air live and for free on the dates listed below. Registration is required at quickcenter.com.

“The Other Dome: Jewish Culture of the Italian Renaissance Between Paradigms and Paradoxes”

Wednesday, Oct. 13  | 7:30 p.m.

From music to architecture, Gabriel Mancuso, PhD, will visit and explore some of the most significant chapters in the history of the Jews in Renaissance Italy, from the time of Brunelleschi’s masterpiece to the Jewish “other dome.” This Open VISIONS Forum (OVF): Espresso lecture is presented as part of the College of Arts & Sciences’ FESTA ITALIANA, in affiliation with the Italian Studies Program, the Department of Modern Languages & Literature, the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies, and the Judaic Studies Program.

“The Art of Translation”

Wednesday, Oct. 27 | 7:30 p.m.

In this OVF: Espresso lecture, renowned translator and Italophile Ann Goldstein will speak about her translations into English of important Italian works by Elena Ferrante (including the Neapolitan quartet and The Lying Life of Adults, Ferrante’s latest work), Primo Levi, Elsa Morante, Giacomo Leopardi, and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Presented as part of the College of Arts & Sciences’ FESTA ITALIANA, in affiliation with the Italian Studies Program and the Department of Modern Languages & Literature.

“Fascist Style – Arts, Politics & Propaganda: From Italy 1922 to Global Dictatorships Today”

Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021 | 7:30 p.m.

With particular attention to the portraits of the Duce and the Führer that played a major part in the cult of their charismatic leaderships, in this OVF: Espresso lecture Luciano Cheles, PhD, will look at the visual propaganda of the Fascist and Nazi regimes, covering nearly 100 years since Benito Mussolini’s ‘Black Shirt March on Rome’ in October of 1922. Presented as part of the College of Arts & Sciences’ FESTA ITALIANA, in affiliation with the Italian Studies Program and the Department of Modern Languages & Literature.

All Open VISIONS Forum: Espresso events are free and require registration. For more information about these and other programming at the Quick Center and Fairfield University, please visit quickcenter.com.

Posted On: September 12, 2021

Volume: 53 Number: 8

Fairfield University is a modern, Jesuit Catholic university rooted in one of the world’s oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from the U.S. and across the globe are pursuing degrees in the University’s five schools. Fairfield embraces a liberal humanistic approach to education, encouraging critical thinking, cultivating free and open inquiry, and fostering ethical and religious values. The University is located on a stunning 200-acre campus on the scenic Connecticut coast just an hour from New York City.