Get a behind-the-scenes look at normally closed-to-the-public spaces at the nation’s №1 in innovation university! ASU Open Door takes place every Saturday in February across all four ASU campuses in metro Phoenix.

Top February events at ASU

Open Door, rivalry games, Black History Month, Devilpalooza and more! Take a look at what’s happening around ASU campuses this month.

FEBRUARY

Feb. 1

• February is Black History Month, and ASU’s Black African Coalition is working in partnership with clubs, organizations and departments across ASU to engage and enlighten the entire Sun Devil community on the Black student experience in the 21st century. Experience the Candlelight Vigil, a recognition of all, both past and present, who have touched on the Black Sun Devil experience since the first Black graduate of ASU, Benton James, in 1924. Free and open to the public. 7 p.m., front steps of Old Main, ASU’s Tempe campus.

• Cheer, cheer for ASU as Sun Devil Women’s Basketball takes on the Arizona Wildcats! Students, download your free season-long pass on the ASU app. 6 p.m., Wells Fargo Arena, ASU’s Tempe campus.
• Join the Sustainability Solutions Festival throughout February to discover and explore how we can individually and collectively reimagine our lives and our planet through education, communication, innovation, transportation, recreation and other intersections of sustainability. Most events are free and open to the public, but check the schedule for details.

• Watch some of the country’s brightest university students compete for a chance to win up to $100,000 in prize funding from Avnet. The 2019 ASU Innovation Open Finals will feature five finalist venture pitches and a keynote from Bre Pettis of Makerbot. Come out and support innovation! Free and open to the public. Registration requested. 1-5 p.m., Student Pavilion, ASU’s Tempe campus.

Check out the entire list of essential events taking place at ASU this spring

Feb. 2

• Discover the Thunderbird difference at Thunderbird Premier Weekend. As a VIP guest, you’ll attend an exclusive networking reception with Thunderbird alumni, and learn about our degrees, international travel opportunities, career services and more. Free and open to the public. Complimentary hotel accommodations for those coming from out of state are available for Friday and/or Saturday (first-come, first-served). RSVP requested. 11 a.m., 400 E. Van Buren St., Floor 7, Downtown Phoenix.
• Bring the family, play and explore at ASU Open Door: Four days, hundreds of hands-on activities and a sneak peek at normally closed-to-the-public spaces on all four ASU campuses! Visitors can explore the spaces normally accessible only to ASU students — laboratories, living collections, museums and classrooms — and participate in hundreds of interactive, hands-on activities and talk to students, faculty and staff. Free and open to the public. Download your free tickets today!

Experience everything ASU has to offer as the #1innovation university in the nation at ASU Open Door: 1 to 5 p.m. Feb. 2 at Polytechnic campus, Feb. 9 at Downtown Phoenix campus and Feb. 16 at West campus and from 1 to 6 p.m. Feb. 23 on Tempe campus. Download your free tickets today!

Feb. 4

Join the Asian/Asian Pacific American Students Coalition, Coalition of International Students and Culture@ASU for a celebration of Lunar New Year! Enjoy traditional lion dancing, food and activities at Express Yourself: Lunar New Year to welcome the Year of the Pig. Free. 11:30 a.m., Memorial Union North Stage, ASU’s Tempe campus.

Feb. 5

• Gerry Ellis is an award-winning environmental photographer/filmmaker who has documented endangered species, indigenous cultures and threatened ecosystems across every continent. Inspired by his initial work with Jane Goodall, Ellis is now working on a multi-year education and public awareness project called Apes Like Us to heighten concern for the survival of great apes. In his talk “The Women in Ape Conservation and Survival,” hosted by the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Ellis explores through his filmmaking and social media storytelling how extraordinary women from Goodall to today’s unknown heroines are influencing great ape survival. Free; a light lunch will be included. RSVP requested. 12:30 p.m., Wrigley Hall, Room 481, ASU’s Tempe campus.
• Students are often confronted with the question, “What are you going to do with a degree in THAT?” In “Telling Your Story to Open Doors,” an interactive two-hour workshop exclusively for students hosted by the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership and co-hosted by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Megan Finnerty, founder and director of the USA Today Network Storytellers Project, will coach students on how to turn education and experience into engaging stories that articulate why they are the right fit for the opportunities they seek on campus and beyond. Free. RSVP requested. 4 p.m., Memorial Union, Ventana Ballroom 241A, ASU’s Tempe campus.

• In almost every culture of the world, there is a myth of how one day a time of catastrophe will come when some powerful force — whether natural, supernatural or human — precipitates an apocalypse that will bring an end to our species and its environment. During the last 200 years, that narrative has often been of ecological catastrophe. In “The End of the World As We Know It,” Oxford Professor Sir Jonathan Bate expounds on how the humanities can help us to understand this narrative and apply it to the present and immediate future in which climate change and other challenges have the potential to destroy the world as we know it. Following the talk, please join the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability and Department of English for a dessert reception, where Sir Jonathan will sign copies of his book, “Stressed, Unstressed: Classic Poems to Ease the Mind.” Free and open to the public. 7 p.m., Changing Hands Bookstore, 300 W. Camelback Road, Phoenix.

Feb. 6

• Join Barrett, The Honors College for World View, World Visions where people of all backgrounds, faiths and walks of life will be coming together to relax, chat and learn from one another about other world-views as part of Interfaith Harmony Week. Lunch will be picnic style, so bring a blanket! Noon-1 p.m., Barrett Academic Court, ASU’s Tempe campus.
• Head to Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College for Wellness Wednesdays this spring semester for a variety of wellness activities, speakers, demos and relaxing fun — every Wednesday. The lounge will be reserved as a “stress-free” zone during this time, so no school work, studying or stress allowed! Free. 1:30 p.m., Feb. 6; 1 p.m., Feb. 13, Feb. 20 and Feb. 27; Farmer Student Lounge, ASU’s Tempe campus.

Feb. 7

• Basing health decision on information you find on the internet can be risky. Join the conversation as a panel of experts discusses the credibility of web-based health information in “Fake health news: Trustworthy medical advice in the digital age,” part of the “We Need to Talk: Tough Conversations in Health” panel discussion series from the College of Health Solutions. Free and open to the public. Registration requested. 5 p.m., A. E. England Building, ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus.
• Finish the second annual Interfaith Harmony Week by joining a variety of faith-, spiritual- or wellness-based organizations at Hayden Lawn for the Interfaith Celebration Fair: food, games, educational displays and information, and more. 3-5 p.m., Student Services Lawn, ASU’s Tempe campus.

Feb. 8

• Student entrepreneurs, head to Entrepreneurship + Innovation’s ASU Launch Days Open Pitch for the opportunity to pitch your ideas and possibly win a $250 crowd-favorite prize. 2 p.m., Cooley Ballroom, ASU’s Polytechnic campus.

Check out the Open Pitch opportunities on Tempe campus (Feb. 15), West (Feb. 22) and Downtown (March 1), too!

• Warning: extreme language, gun violence, sexual violence and scenes that some viewers may find upsetting. In “good friday” by Kristiana Rae Colón, the ricochet of bullets breaks the hush of academia’s ivory halls. Four students and a teacher are trapped in a classroom. Tension coils to the point of asphyxia, and then, the shooter enters the room. “good friday” tackles millennial feminism and the intersection of gun violence and sexual violence. The Herberger Institute offers discounts to seniors and to ASU students, faculty, staff and alumni for most of its events; tickets are $16 general, $12 ASU faculty, staff and alumni, $12 senior, $8 student. All Herberger Institute students, faculty and staff are eligible for free tickets to most events. Reserve free tickets in advance through the box office. 7:30 p.m., Lyceum Theatre, ASU’s Tempe campus.

Feb. 11

• Why are economists, in general, advocates of free trade when the public is more skeptical? In “The Changing Case for Free Trade,” hosted by the Center for the Study of Economic Liberty, a non-partisan academic unit within the W. P. Carey School of Business, Dartmouth College professor and author Douglas Irwin will review the theoretical, moral, political, and empirical case for free trade as viewed by economists since the time of Adam Smith. Free and open to the public. Registration requested. 4:30 p.m., Old Main, Carson Ballroom, ASU’s Tempe campus.
• In honor of Black History Month, the Global Sport Institute presents “The Renaissance of the African-American Athlete,” a special documentary screening and discussion of “The Renaissance Period of the African American in Sports,” a film that highlights the achievements of nine African-American athletes during and after the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Panelists include: co-producer Herbert Douglas, the oldest living African-American Olympic medalist (London 1948), Harrison Dillard, the oldest living American gold medalist (London 1948), and film producer Bob Lot. Discussion to be moderated by Victoria Jackson, sports historian and lecturer of history at Arizona State University. Free and open to the public. RSVP requested. 6:30 p.m., Beus Center for Law and Society, Armstrong Great Hall, ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus.

Feb. 12

• Do you know what to do if you see trouble in your friends’ relationships? The Red Flag Campaign is a national campaign designed to raise awareness of the red flags of dating violence and to build students’ skills to intervene. Join the ASU Sexual and Relationship Violence Prevention Program and Sun Devil MVP to see red flags created by individuals impacted by relationship violence. Participants can add to the display by creating their own flags and will also be able to talk with sexual violence prevention peer educators about how to effectively step up and say something. Free. 11 a.m., Student Services Lawn, ASU’s Tempe campus.

• Celebrate the legacy and work of MacArthur fellow, poet and ASU professor Natalie Diaz with a poetry reading and conversation, her first reading on campus since joining ASU faculty! While books will be available for sale, there will be no formal signing. A reception with cash bar will follow in the Heritage Room at University Club. Free and open to the public. RSVP encouraged. 6 p.m., Old Main, Carson Ballroom, ASU’s Tempe campus.

Feb. 13

Join the Center for the Study of Economic Liberty for “Global Poverty: Place, Productivity, or Program?” as Lant Pritchett discusses three ways to reduce global poverty: poor people change the places they live, the places poor people live get more productive, or communities engage in anti-poverty programs. Pritchett, formerly with the World Bank and Harvard Kennedy School, argues that place has, at the margin, far and away the largest potential. Free and open to the public. Registration requested. 4:30 p.m., Memorial Union 230 Pima, ASU’s Tempe campus.

Feb. 14

The Black African Coalition and the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, in collaboration with the Rainbow Coalition, present Michael Sam, the first openly LGBTQIA+ athlete to be drafted by the NFL, in “Masculinity, Identity, & Moving Forward: I am Michael Sam” to discuss the ideas of masculinity and defining one’s self in the 21st century. Free and open to the public. 7 p.m., Great Hall, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus.

Feb. 15

• If you’re interested in social justice issues, check out the 8th annual ASU Prison Education Conference, “Easy In & Long Way Out,” with keynote speakers Donna Harati and Gabriel Lopez of Homeboy Industries and social justice activist Tyra Patterson, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 23 years. This event is hosted by ASU’s Prison Education Awareness Club with support from the Department of English, School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, School of Social Transformation, and Undergraduate Student Government. Free and open to the public. RSVP requested (if you do, you’ll get a free lunch!). 10 a.m., Student Pavilion, Ballroom 121, ASU’s Tempe campus.
• Catch the action as Sun Devil Softball goes up against Florida in the Littlewood Classic. Students, tickets are free on the ASU app! 7 p.m., Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium, ASU’s Tempe campus.
• Bundle up and come cheer on ASU Men’s Ice Hockey vs. American International. Free for students! 7:05 p.m., Oceanside Ice Arena, Tempe.

• Ready, set … Devils Invent! Solve high-impact global problems simultaneously with more than 20 international universities in the 48-hour Invent for the Planet challenge. The event is open to any and all students at ASU with a passion to work towards solving global problems related to the following themes: waste management, food security, environment, education, digital technology, agriculture, and medicine/medical systems & delivery. Freshmen to Ph.D, all majors and skill sets are welcome. Sign up now!
• The Western Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies will hold its 2019 conference at ASU on the theme “The Global Eighteenth Century.” While there is a registration fee for the conference, students can attend the full, two-day conference at a discounted rate; individual panels are free with no registration necessary. Scholars from all disciplines on all aspects of 18th-century culture will present their work. ASU sponsors include the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and its humanities units: the Department of English, the School of International Letters and Cultures, the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, and the Institute for Humanities Research, in addition to the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts and the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Open to the public. Full conference: $125 for full-time, tenure-track faculty; $75 students, adjunct faculty. Separate rate for “Xerxes” production. RSVP. 8 a.m., Lattie Coor Hall and University Club, ASU’s Tempe campus.

Feb. 16

The Programming and Activities Board will once again host Devilpalooza, the annual spring concert that’s the biggest student event of the year! Follow @ASUPAB on Twitter for the latest on the big headliner, and read up on the FAQ now so you’re ready to reserve your ticket.

Feb. 18

Stop by for the grand opening of a sound exhibit meant to create an art space to encourage healthy sexuality. The exhibit, hosted by ASU Sexual Violence Prevention, will feature various Black artists and their music as part of Black History Month. Free. 5 p.m., Student Center @ the Post Office, ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus.

Feb. 20

• In Entrepreneurship + Innovation’s “Branding and Marketing — Why Your Story Matters,” learn about how to use your story to develop your brand, how to incorporate your story into your marketing materials and efforts, and how to use video to help tell your story. Free and open to the public. 5:30 p.m., K’é — Main Street Learning Lab, 126 E. Main St., Mesa.
• In addressing the crisis of climate, pollution, over-consumption and resource depletion, we need not only scientists to propose technological fixes, but also artists and humanities scholars to give us images of a more sustainable way of life. In “Living Sustainably,” visiting professor Sir Jonathan Bate discusses exemplars from ancient Chinese poet Wang Wei to Henry Thoreau in Walden Woods to abstract expressionist artist Agnes Martin in the American West to explore a range of examples from the humanities that suggest ways in which we can live more sustainably. Dessert reception following the lecture! Free and open to the public. 6:30 p.m., Lyceum Theatre, ASU’s Tempe campus.

Feb. 22

• How can we talk about polarization and civil disagreement on campus and in society? To examine the problem and begin to discuss possible solutions — including restoration of the civic and intellectual virtues of civil disagreement and civic friendship — the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, together with its partners in the Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, presents its Spring 2019 conference on “Polarization and Civil Disagreement: Confronting America’s Civic Crisis.” Free and open to the public. Registration requested. Friday through Saturday, Feb. 22-23, in Memorial Union, Ventana Room 24, ASU’s Tempe campus.
• One of the most acclaimed and celebrated names in hip-hop as a rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer, Vic Mensa brings his incredible talent to the Coca-Cola Sun Deck with special guests — and Tempe natives — Injury Reserve. It’s just the first concert in ASU 365 Community Union’s spring concert lineup! Tickets for all events are on sale now at Ticketmaster, and you can find more information on all the upcoming events at ASU 365 Community Union. A limited number of free and discounted ASU student tickets will be available for all events exclusively on the ASU mobile app. 8 p.m., Sun Devil Stadium, ASU’s Tempe campus.

Feb. 23

The 18th Annual Self-Guided Ceramic Studio Tour offers the public a rare opportunity to view working and living spaces of professional ceramic artists across the Phoenix metropolitan area and view demonstrations of wheel-throwing, hand-building and glazing techniques. Participating artists have a wide range of both functional and sculptural artwork on exhibit and for sale. Stop at the Ceramics Research Center or any studio location to pick up a poster and passport. Visit each studio site to gather stamps on your passport. Receive 6+ stamps and bring it into the Ceramics Research Center for 20% off your purchase in the store. Free and open to the public. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., start at the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center, ASU’s Tempe campus.

Feb. 25

Find out who will be featured as the Black Student Union unveils a new mural of a prominent Black figure. Free and open to the public. 6 p.m., Artspace, ASU’s West campus.

Feb. 28

Barrett, the Honors College at ASU presents the 2019 John J. Rhodes Lecture in Public Policy & American Institutions featuring John Brennan, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, on “The State of Political Discourse in America.” Free and open to the public. Registration required; space is limited. Tickets will be available starting Jan. 31. 7:30 p.m., Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe.

MORE ASU EVENTS

For a full list of events, visit the ASU Events site.

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