Recently, and with Philip Eliasoph, PhD, at the rudder, the University launched a newly focused Arts & Minds initiative — an innovative framework that will bring all of the University’s arts and culture programming, resources, and academics together in one place to enhance Fairfield’s engagement with the local community and to better educate and inspire the student community as well.

Fairfield Arts & Minds intends to define the University as the region’s destination for theater, music, dance, talks, fine art, and community programming — with a mission to deepen human connectedness at a time when the world needs it most.

Dr. Eliasoph, a longtime professor of art history and visual culture, serves as special assistant to the President for arts and culture, a role that began at the start of this academic year. Working as a member of the University’s senior leadership team, Dr. Eliasoph is charged with spearheading the University’s efforts, working with partners across campus to enhance the quality of the overall Fairfield undergraduate experience, and more sharply defining the profile of the arts at Fairfield.

“The energies, the synergies, the excitement about our arts and minds initiative looking outward is a significant step forward in how we’re envisioning the potential and full promise of a Fairfield education,” Dr. Eliasoph said.

Since 1942, Fairfield University has included arts and culture, and the humanities, as integral to the curriculum. In addition, for decades, the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts has presented high-caliber artistic programs to the public; the Fairfield University Art Museum has inspired curiosity through its exhibitions, programs, and the collections in its care; and various academic centers, like the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies and the Center for Catholic Studies, have presented significant writers and thinkers to the campus community.

But, there has not been, traditionally, one entity that has unified these programs in such a way that they express an intentional vision, nor has there been an institutionalized connective tissue to link the University’s arts programming to student life and academics.

The Arts Institute

Under the Fairfield Arts and Minds umbrella, the Arts Institute in the College of Arts and Sciences has recently been formed to support, promote, and elevate all aspects of artistic inquiry as a part of the academic experience.

A connected arts coalition across campus, the institute endeavors to knit all of these arts and culture experiences together and is led by founding director Katherine A. Schwab, PhD, professor of art history and visual culture in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

The Arts Institute, which commenced July 1 of this year, comprises the academic areas of the visual, performing, and literary arts of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Quick Center for the Performing Arts, and the Fairfield University Art Museum. The Arts Institute seeks to foster excellence in visual, performing, and literary arts programming, involving dialogue with the arts, and emphasizing student engagement with the arts in fulfillment of the University’s mission.

Some of the primary initiatives underway include: a newly established steering committee of faculty, staff, and students, so that the work of the institute may always be guided by wide-ranging and fresh ideas; an interdisciplinary “Conversations in the Arts” series; and a pilot project of curated New York City ARTS excursions for small groups of students, which are totally free of charge to attend.

Read the full story in the Fairfield University Magazine. Learn more about Arts & Minds.