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Open MINDS Institute

Open MINDS Institute is an exploratory ‘classroom without walls’ presenting topical seminars and workshops with master professors. We invite you to enroll in our stimulating, enriching, state-of-the-art courses.

Combining academic excellence with open-ended lectures and interactive conversations, classes will be held on Fairfield University’s campus and at the Pequot Library in Southport, maximizing the resources and facilities of these world-class institutions.

Open MINDS Institute courses are $290 each. Quick Members price per course is $275. Enroll in two or more courses and enjoy a discounted price of just $250 per course.

Available Seminars

Image of book cover “Seize the Beat: A Look Inside”

Brian Q. Torff

“Seize the Beat: A Look Inside”

American Music

Thursdays | February 1, 8, 15, 22

10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Pequot Library

Brian Q. Torff’s new book follows the development of American music from its African roots to the juke joint, club, and concert hall, revealing a culture perpetually reinventing itself to suit the next generation.

The story of American popular music is steeped in social history, race, gender, and class, its evolution driven by ephemeral connection to young audiences. From Benny Goodman to Sinatra to Elvis Presley to the Beatles, pop icons age out of the art form while new musical styles pass from relevance to nostalgia within a few years. At the same time, perennial forms like blues, jazz, and folk are continually rediscovered by new audiences.

Image of Michelle DiMarzo, PhD

Michelle DiMarzo, PhD

“Dürer, Raphael, Rembrandt: Tradition and Innovation in European Prints”

Mondays | February 26, March 11, 18, 25

1 – 2:30 p.m.

Diffley Board Room

Join Michelle DiMarzo, PhD, to discover the rich history of European printmaking from the 15th-18th centuries through the lens of some of the greatest masters of the craft.

Beginning with woodcuts and engravings in 15th century Germany, printmaking offered artists exciting possibilities: with this new technology, artists could not only produce work without a patron, they could also reproduce it, reaching a broader public than ever before. Old Masters like Dürer, Raphael, Rembrandt, and Canaletto – as well as some Old Mistresses – embraced the power and fluidity of the printed line as a vehicle for their artistic expression. This course explores the social function of prints alongside their technical innovation, as artists refined existing processes, as in the development of the chiaroscuro woodcut, and invented new ones, such as etching, mezzotint, and aquatint.

Dr. Michelle DiMarzo is curator of education and academic engagement in the Fairfield University Art Museum, and assistant professor of art history & visual culture in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts. A specialist in Italian Renaissance art, she has curated a number of exhibitions for the museum, including Prints from the Age of Rodin (2019), Out of the Kress Vaults: Women in Sacred Renaissance Painting (2022), and an upcoming exhibition of Old Master prints on loan from the Wetmore Collection of Connecticut College (2024).