Community & Culture

Join Westminster humanities faculty members to discuss how a major or minor in a humanities discipline can help you after graduation.

Free and open to the public.

Visual Art majors will lead a gallery talk on the current art exhibition, “Yoko Ono: Passages and Wishes.” The exhibition closes Friday, Oct. 24.

Free and open to the public.

Creative writing workshop led by senior English majors Olivia Plummer ’26 and Max Smith ’26 and facilitated by Dr. David Swerdlow, professor of English, in 210 Patterson Hall.

Free and open to the public.

Student writers will present fiction and poetry alongside winners of the recent high school creative writing contest. Sponsored by the Department of English.

Free and open to the public.

Meet Apollo Aurora, host of the Planetarium Channel’s universally loved gravity news source, Defying Gravity: It IS Rocket Science! With special robot correspondents Apple 1-6-8-6 and EGR-1, Apollo and her team will explore rocket power, gravity on other planets, monstrous black holes, and even what keeps us grounded on Earth! Tune into this brand new Planetarium program and uncover the mysteries of gravity.

This show is recommended for grades 3+ (ages 8+).

Reserve your seats here!

Alumnus Matthew Facciani, PhD, presents, "The Psychology of Misinformation: How Our Social Worlds Shape What We Believe." This talk examines why people fall for misinformation and how our identities, social circles, and psychology play a role. Our speaker will share insights from his newly released book, Misguided: Where Misinformation Starts, How It Spreads, and What To Do About It, on why facts by themselves often aren’t enough to inform us, and what tools—like media literacy and building trust—can help us make sense of today’s information overload.

Matthew Facciani, a Westminster College graduate (psychology major, 2011), is now a researcher at the University of Notre Dame and an interdisciplinary social scientist with a PhD in sociology from the University of South Carolina. He studies media literacy, misinformation, political polarization, and artificial intelligence. Matthew is also a science communicator who has written for major outlets, spoken at national conferences, and hosts Misguided: The Podcast. His new book, Misguided (Columbia University Press), shows how social and psychological forces shape the way we understand information.

The Psychology and Neuroscience Colloquium is presented with appreciation to Dr. David Gray '56 and Dr. Alan Gittis for their endowment funding.

This free event is open to the campus community.

Meet Apollo Aurora, host of the Planetarium Channel’s universally loved gravity news source, Defying Gravity: It IS Rocket Science! With special robot correspondents Apple 1-6-8-6 and EGR-1, Apollo and her team will explore rocket power, gravity on other planets, monstrous black holes, and even what keeps us grounded on Earth! Tune into this brand new Planetarium program and uncover the mysteries of gravity.

This show is recommended for grades 3+ (ages 8+).

Reserve your seats here!

Take your visitors on a tour of winter’s evening sky and then join jolly ol’ Santa and concerned alien, Mr. Freep, as they explore the solar system’s planets and meet the Christmas Eve needs of their fictitious inhabitants.

This show is recommended for grades 1+ (ages 5+).

Reserve your seats here!

The 2025 Ken and Nancy Long Chemistry Lecture will be presented by Dr. Robert LeSeur, Associate Professor of Chemistry at SUNY Brockport. This lecture is entitled: Creativity on the Canal: the early history of Brockport's first makerspace.

Abstract: In this talk, I’ll share the story behind It Begins in Brockport (IBiB), a community makerspace founded in 2023 in the village of Brockport. Born from the local university's attempt to build a fab lab and my passion for digital fabrication, IBiB has grown into a vibrant hub for creativity, STEM education, and intergenerational learning. I’ll discuss how the space was built from mothballed equipment, how it serves the community through outreach and events, and why access to creative, technical spaces is essential for lifelong learning in every community. Importantly, I will be bringing toys.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information contact Dr. Pete Smith at smithpm@westminster.edu. 

School of Music students perform concertos and arias in this annual competition. Guest judges will select winners to perform as soloists with the Westminster College Symphony Orchestra in their spring concert.

Free and open to the public.

Take your visitors on a tour of winter’s evening sky and then join jolly ol’ Santa and concerned alien, Mr. Freep, as they explore the solar system’s planets and meet the Christmas Eve needs of their fictitious inhabitants.

This show is recommended for grades 1+ (ages 5+).

Reserve your seats here!

Hand-picked by Billy Joel to star in the hit Broadway musical Movin’ Out, Michael Cavanaugh combines modern Christmas songs like “Last Christmas” and “Wonderful Christmastime” with classic holiday hits like “Jingle Bell Rock”, “Winter Wonderland” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” to create a fun, rockin’ musical show for the yuletide season. Sprinkle in a selection of classic pop and rock songs by Billy Joel, Elton John, and more. Don’t miss the “New Piano Man,” (Broadway World) as he rings in this Holiday Season!

To purchase tickets visit westminster.edu/celebrity

“How Sweet It Is”, “Country Road”, “Shower The People”, “Anticipation”, “You’re So Vain”, “Mockingbird”, “I Feel the Earth Move”, “It’s Too Late”, and “You’ve Got A Friend”. These are just a few of the fantastic songs from “Three American Troubadours” -- a production that celebrates the lives and careers of 6-time Grammy winner James Taylor, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Carly Simon with 13 top 40 hits, and Carole King who wrote or co-wrote 118 Billboard Hot 100 pop hits-- 3 iconic American singer/songwriters whose personal lives and careers have intertwined throughout the years, and whose memorable hit songs continue to offer ageless inspiration.

To purchase tickets visit westminster.edu/celebrity

A musical voyage that will leave you awe-inspired and craving for more!

Journey back to the glory days of the late 60s and early 70s with Commotion – the most electrifying and authentic Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band on the planet!

Experience the unforgettable hits including “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” “Green River,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Travelin Band,” “Up Around the Bend,” and more!

To purchase tickets visit westminster.edu/celebrity