Attend an international conference on the Middle East, featuring a keynote address by Salam Fayyad, former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority. Conference continues through Saturday. Free; advance registration required. Rm. 114, Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall, 1 Prospect St. 2-10 p.m.
Listen to Ann Temkin, the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, discuss several of the modern paintings in the Yale University Art Gallery’s collection that inspired her when she was a student — and still rank among her favorites today. Free. 1111 Chapel St. 1:30 p.m.
View screenings of recent Italian films, including “Il padre d’Italia” (“The Father of Italy”), “Lasciati andare” (“Let Yourself Go”), and “La guerra dei cafoni” (“The War of Bumpkins”). All films are in Italian with English subtitles. Festival continues through Sunday. Free. Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall St. Various times.
Experience a new play by Lulu Klebanoff that explores the titular characters’ hidden romance as it unfolds offstage during “Romeo and Juliet.” Tybalt and Mercutio “grapple with a love so potent and so forbidden it can only end in a tragic duel.” Free; advance registration required. 189 Elm St. 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Learn from the artist Frank Bruckmann as he demonstrates painting techniques depicted in the exhibition “The Paston Treasure: Microcosm of the Known World.” Free. Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St. 2 p.m.
Enjoy the Yale Undergraduate Ballet Company’s spring show, which will feature dances and dreams in stand-alone pieces of original, classical, and contemporary ballet choreography. Music from Shakespeare story ballets occur in several of the pieces. Free. Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, 177 College St. 8 p.m.
Take part in the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History’s celebration of Earth Day and rediscover the wonders of nature. Explore specimens from the collections that are rarely on display, and learn about the beetles, birds, and botanical bounty that share the planet. Tickets: $6-$13. 170 Whitney Ave. Noon.
Hear Swiss photographer Saskia Bory Keeley discuss her work as part of a panel that will focus on efforts to shift attitudes about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through various methods. Part of the Students for Peace Conference. Free. Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High St. 10:30 a.m.
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments’ concert series, which features a performance of the Schubert Octet by the Smithsonian Chamber Players, led by Kenneth Slowik, with violinist Vera Beths, clarinetist Charles Neidich, and Yale School of Music faculty hornist William Purvis. Tickets: $15-$28. 15 Hillhouse Ave. 3 p.m.