What's happening around town

TUES 9.6

NEW FACULTY EXHIBITION Harvard University, Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. 617-495-3251. Free.

Even if you don’t have the academic chops to study at Harvard, you can glean greatness from its faculty. Just take the current exhibition of work by new professors in the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies. The show includes Ruth Lingford’s provocative animated shorts and the conceptual work of Sergio Muñoz-Sarmiento, who complicates our idea of artistic ownership by sharing credit with the exhibition’s construction crew for his ‘‘sculptures,’’ which are nothing more than the walls the workers built to display the show. ‘‘I’ve tried to invite in or bring in the preparatorial crew from museums where I’ve exhibited, so they get some sort of authorship,’’ he says. The show runs Mon-Sat 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Sun noon to 11:30 p.m. Through Oct. 6.

TUES 9.6

THEATER AND COEXISTENCE: CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THEATRE IN IRAN, ISRAEL AND THE US. Theater discussion, Brandeis University, Shapiro Campus Center, Multi-Purpose Room, 415 South St., Waltham. 781-736-8575. Free. Artists are important ambassadors between cultures. To support that role, Brandeis is hosting a weeklong residency featuring three playwrights from Iran, Israel, and the US. They will present a workshop, ‘‘Reflections on Collaborating Across Cultures,’’ at 1:40 p.m. on Sept. 6, a discussion of censorship, ‘‘Close Encounters of a Cultural Kind: Contemporary Political Theatre in Iran, Israel and the United States,’’ at 8 p.m. on Sept. 6 and a performance of traditional Iranian passion plays, ‘‘Tazieh,’’ at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 8. ‘‘It came about out of a belief that the arts have a great deal to contribute to strengthening inter-communal relationships,’’ says Cindy Cohen, director of coexistence research and international collaborations at Brandeis.

WED 9.7

PURSUING HAPPINESS IN A TIME OF TERROR Art exhibition, Salem State College, Winfisky Gallery, Ellison Campus Center, 352 Lafayette St., Salem. 978-542-6515. Free. The relationship between politics and art are also at the forefront of Johnny Carrera’s current exhibition. The Waltham-based book artist creates whimsical currency-based collages that examine our ideas of political freedom and societal contentment. ‘‘I think this exhibition explores more carefully the question of money’s role in democracy and how money is serving or not serving our interests in the pursuit of happiness, basically, and beauty,’’ says Carrera. Mon to Fri 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and by appointment. The show runs through Sept 22.