Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “Ireland’s Easter Rising,” on a pivotal moment in Ireland’s fight for independence, with Mark Doyle, professor of history at Middle Tennessee State University, scholar of Irish history, and author of Fighting like the Devil for the Sake of God: Protestants, Catholics and the Origins of Violence in Victorian Belfast.

[Doors open at 6 pm. Talk starts at 7.]

During Easter Week of 1916, a time when hundreds of thousands of other Irishmen were fighting on Britain’s behalf on the First World War’s Western Front, a small band of rebels staged an armed anti-British rebellion in Dublin. 

Their goal was to rid Ireland of the British domination that it had been under in one form or another for nearly 800 years. Although in the short-term their uprising ended disastrously, in the long-term it managed to inspire a largely successful fight for independence.

Learn in depth about this rebellion and how it altered Ireland’s history with Professor Mark Doyle, a scholar and teacher of Irish and British history who has conducted extensive research in Dublin and Belfast. He’ll explain the background, course, and legacy of the Easter Rising, which will mark its 110th anniversary next month.

You’ll learn how the leaders of Ireland’s Easter Rising sought to occupy key places around Dublin in hopes of sparking a general uprising and persuading Germany, Britain’s enemy in the Great War, to help their cause. Their plan failed because not only did no island-wide rebellion occur, but most Dubliners scorned them as reckless adventurers. In less than a week, hundreds of rebels were killed and thousands arrested, with central Dublin being left a smoking hull.

The Easter Rising was, by most measures, a dismal failure. But in the weeks and months that followed something remarkable happened. Britain’s brutal suppression of the rising, combined with the dignified way in which the rebel leaders met their deaths and skillful organizing by surviving rebels and other Irish nationalists, eventually caused the Easter Rising to be seen not as a tragic farce but as the first blow in a longer struggle.

Dr. Doyle will shed light on how a doomed band of rebels lit the flame that eventually consumed the whole island. He’ll examine what their memories mean today in an Ireland that, despite having changed utterly from what it once, still struggles to realize the lofty goals of the men and women of 1916. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)

Tickets

On the third Tuesday of every month, we'll be gathering together to read, chat, and then read some more!  Here’s the plan:  For 30 minutes, we'll be diving into our individual books. This isn’t a book club, so there will be no assigned reading or group discussions. After 30 minutes of reading, there will be a 15 minute breather to chat (or not) with other folks about our latest reads before diving back into your books! Then repeat to your hearts content, or until the brewery closes, whichever comes first.

This group is intended for all levels of social comfort and reading style. Whether you can’t wait to chat with a new friend about your favorite author or you’ll be using those 15 minutes of chatter to order yourself another beer, please join us!  We’re excited to unite a community of book lovers, so we hope to see you out!

Chess night hosted by Timothy Miles and Vinyl records being spun by the Deli Shop Boys!

If you know the game, great! Come play or teach others.

If you play, but don;t know the game well, great! We’re no grandmasters over here either.

If you’re unfamiliar but would love to learn the game, perfect! We’ll get you started on the right foot.

We’ll play 20-20Min (max) timers to keep games rotating.

Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “The Occult Mother Goose,” on the twisted origins of many nursery rhymes, with Cory Thomas Hutcheson, folklorist, lecturer at Middle Tennessee State University, and author of New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic.

[Doors open at 6 pm. Talk starts at 7.]

We may think of Mother Goose as a sweet old woman adorning the cover of children’s books. The truth, though, is that she’s got more than a few tricks up her tatted lace sleeves. Rooted in pre-Christian myths from Germany and Scandinavia, she has deep connections to witchcraft and magic. 

The nursery rhymes collected in the books that bear Mother Goose’s name are no sickly-sweet lullabies for bouncing babies, either. Many are derived from old magic spells, creepy legends about terrifying child-eating monsters, or horribly tragic events, despite being transmuted over time into innocent-seeming songs, dances, and games. 

Join folklorist Cory Thomas Hutcheson, whose great past talks have earned him a loyal following among Profs and Pints fans, for a night that might forever change how you think about blind mice, mulberry bushes, and Jack and Jill. Delving into a weird world of cursed couplets and revolting rhymes, he’ll look at the mythic origins of Mother Goose and explore some of her weirdest wordplay and eeriest entries. 

We’ll look at fortune-telling poems that promise to predict the future husband of those who “make a rhyme, make a rhyme, see your beau before bedtime.” 

We’ll consider poems that warn of summoning evil: “Speak of a person, and he will appear. Then talk of the devil, and he’ll draw near.”

You’ll have a great time learning all sorts of wicked history and lore. Cross our hearts and hope to die! (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)

Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “Love and Lust in Ancient Greece,” with Chiara Sulprizio, senior lecturer in Classical and Mediterranean Studies at Vanderbilt University and scholar of ancient gender and sexuality.

[Doors open at 6 pm. Talk starts at 7.]

The ancient Greeks revered the goddess of love, Aphrodite. They believed her erotic power to be the most powerful force in the universe, even surpassing the powers of Zeus, and they celebrated this force with a singular passion in their art, literature, and sex lives.

Join Chiara Sulprizio of Vanderbilt University for a thrilling exploration of how love and desire were imagined, discussed, and experienced by men and women in ancient Greece—at all levels of society, from the humblest slaves to the highest aristocrats.

We will consider the socialization of girls and boys, and how the institution of marriage, as well as the threat of adultery, shaped the course of ancient Greeks’ lives.

We will also examine the importance of the phallus in this patriarchal culture, and its defining role as a symbol of male dominance, fertility and fortune. 

Dr. Sulprizio will discuss the practice of pederasty and why it was so prevalent a feature of elite Greek identity. She also will investigate the lives of ancient prostitutes and consider the mystery of women’s erotic experiences, explaining why they are so difficult to trace in the historical record. 

Finally, we’ll consider the various ways that ancient ideas about love and eroticism remain alive in our culture today. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)

Tickets

Come out for astronomy, beer, prizes and more to the world famous Astronomy on Tap, here in Nashville. Sold out? Don't worry. Just show up!

Astro on Tap is at a new location and time!

Please join us at Fait La Force Brewing at 6pm Doors | Event 7pm

We are lining up speakers right now, so stay tuned for updates!

* If tickets are unavailable, contact aotnashville@gmail.com OR just show up!

• This Eventbrite page is only set up as a public notice. Registration is not required, but registering provides AoT a means to reach attendees if necessary.

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The world famous Astronomy on Tap is THRIVING in the Music City!

Can't believe it's been over a YEAR since AoT was established in Nashville!

Join us for a stellar evening of astronomy and beer at FAIT LA FORCE BREWING. Get ready to enjoy a low-key evening of local astronomers and scientists giving an engaging talk on what the Universe is up to while sipping on local brews.

This event is open to everyone whether you're a science enthusiast or a beer connoisseur

So grab your friends and come on down to Astronomy on Tap - Nashville for an out-of-this-world experience!

Tickets

Our Boys in Gold are back in action at The Castle this weekend. Come pregame with the Delishop Boys spinning records and grab a $5 pint of Mornings of Gold as we kick off the 2026 campaign!

On the third Tuesday of every month, we'll be gathering together to read, chat, and then read some more!  Here’s the plan:  For 30 minutes, we'll be diving into our individual books. This isn’t a book club, so there will be no assigned reading or group discussions. After 30 minutes of reading, there will be a 15 minute breather to chat (or not) with other folks about our latest reads before diving back into your books! Then repeat to your hearts content, or until the brewery closes, whichever comes first.

This group is intended for all levels of social comfort and reading style. Whether you can’t wait to chat with a new friend about your favorite author or you’ll be using those 15 minutes of chatter to order yourself another beer, please join us!  We’re excited to unite a community of book lovers, so we hope to see you out!

Calling all our amazing FLF Union Members!!

Sunday February 15th from 6-9pm we want to say thank you at our exclusive, members only party! You and a plus one get your first round on the house and then $4 pours after that.

🍻 Both owners, Parker and Zach, will be onsite hanging out to answer all your pressing questions

🍻 Our production team Zach and Zac will welcome guests back into the brew house to discuss all things beer and lead exclusive tours

🍻 We will bring a few specials bottles from around the world to share. If you have anything you want to bring to share do it!

🍻 Underberg toast at 7:30

Union members should receive a text to their number on file with an e-vite by the end of the week with a link to RSVP. If you don’t receive this, please reach out to let us know! And if you’ve been on the fence about signing up, now is the time so you don’t miss our first ever members party!

We are so grateful for the support of our regulars, and especially our union members. Your ongoing support of our small business means the world to us.

🎂 VINTAGE CAKE DECORATING CLASS 💘

Spend an afternoon at the @faitlaforcebrewing taproom on February 14h for a vintage cake decorating class. The ticket price includes your choice of a chocolate or vanilla 6 inch heart shaped cake to decorate, all decorating supplies to use during class, one cocktail or mocktail to enjoy, a goodie bag of baked treats to take home, and a cake box. Two classes offered and each is limited to 12 participants. To grab your tickets head to @eastleighdesserts and click the link in her bio.

L’Union Fait la Force || Strength in Decorating Your Cake and Eating It Too

Tickets

Galentine’s Day!!

Grab your gals and get to the taproom on February 13th (as mother Leslie Knope commands) from 4-9pm

🩷 @horsegirl_vintage and @fashiongirlvintage will be in the taproom with a highly curated selection of vintage goods. 🩷They will also be hosting a “smell-good-swap”. Bring perfumes or candles or anything else that smells good that you’re interested in trading for something else!

🩷 Tarot card readings will be available by @adhd.alli
🩷 While your hanging out, make your bestie a postcard or card (all supplies free)
🩷 @shygirlbakingco will be on site selling DELICIOUS treats
🩷$6 rosé wine

See you there 🥂👯‍♀️

L’ Union Fait la Force || Strength in gal pals

Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “Love/Sex/Magic,” an exploration of love magic, sex spells, and questions of desire and consent in early modern Europe, with Jessica C. Lowe, historian of early modern Europe and lecturer in gender and sexuality studies at Vanderbilt University.

[Doors open at 6 pm. Talk starts at 7.]

In early modern Europe, as in America today, people sought to secure sex, attract love and marriage, and make babies. Not everyone, however, could fulfill this ideal, so many ended up turning to practitioners of magic for the answers. 

Learn in depth about how Europeans in the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries turned to magic to solve their romantic woes with Jessica C. Lowe, who teaches Vanderbilt courses on “supernatural sexuality” and early modern European witch hunts.  

Drawing heavily from her “supernatural sexuality” course, which examines how early modern beliefs in love magic, witches, werewolves, and vampires shaped our current ideas about gender, sex, and sexuality, Dr. Lowe will deliver a talk combining delicious parts of both Valentine’s Day and Halloween.

She’ll talk about how both sex and love magic were widespread across European society and across the European continent, and how both were practiced in fascinating ways. 

Need to attract the attention of a woman? Find some bat blood and write her name on your hand. Invested in her virginity? Gather some vervain plants (under the right astrological conjunction) and make her sit on it while she prays, knowing that she’ll be compelled to flee if she is “defiled.”

Wanting to conceive a son? Roast some boar testicles and bring the warm pot to bed!

Were these helpful tools, or consoling beliefs, or coercive power? We’ll tackle these questions by considering the social construction of desire, coercion, and consent. Drawing from spell books and trial records, we’ll also look at love magic as both a belief system and an industry. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)

Tickets

Closing early for Super Bowl. Taproom Open 11am-5pm

PRIVATE EVENT

Taproom Closing Early at 6:45pm. Open 11am-6:45pm

PRIVATE EVENT

Taproom Closing Early at 6:45pm. Open 11am-6:45pm

This event will feature 2 amazing speakers:

• Marcelo Disconzi

              Are Neutron Stars Sticky?

• Wynter Brigitta-Maita

             Cosmic Ghosting: A Tale of Interstellar Communications

There will be trivia, and more prizes after! So come on out after a long day of hard work in the middle of the week and relax while we bombard you with fun astro facts, beer, and prizes!

Make sure to RSVP for the free event at EventBrite.

Please share to all and any who might be interested!

Doors 6:00 pm | Show 7:00 pm

More parking in the back if the front lot is full!

This talk has completely sold out in advance and door tickets will be available based on no shows only.

Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “World War I and the Middle East,” on an often-overlooked theater of the Great War and its long-term impact on global affairs, with Andrew Patrick, professor of history at Tennessee State University and scholar of American engagement with the Ottoman Empire.

[Doors open at 6 pm. Talk starts at 7.]

When we think of World War I we often think of filthy trenches, futile assaults, and stagnant battle lines in France and Belgium. The experience was much different, however, beyond the Western Front.

Gain a deep understanding of how the war was fought in Ottoman lands, and how the outcome of the conflict there continues to have a profound impact on our world today, at Fait La Force on January 21st. 

Professor Andrew Patrick, who has written a book and several articles on World War I in the Middle East and teaches courses on World War I and Middle East and global history, will give you a much richer understanding of the war in Ottoman lands than you might have gleaned from watching classic films like Gallipoli or Lawrence of Arabia.

He’ll talk about how historians increasingly place the Ottoman Empire at the center of the First World War’s origins, and how the conflict in Ottoman lands lasted far longer than the war itself, arguably from 1911 until 1922.

You’ll learn how the character of the conflict on Ottoman lands differed substantially from fighting elsewhere—even though it was similarly gruesome. Along with warfare, people in the region faced ethnic cleansing, famine, and even locusts.

By 1922, European imperial powers finally accomplished the violent dismantling of the Ottoman Empire, replacing it with unwanted colonial rule, fragile states, and the beginnings of a “national home” for European Jews. In doing so they gave birth to the modern Middle East and ensured that the region would experience instability in the ensuing century. The consequences of their actions still haunt us today. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)

On the third Tuesday of every month, we'll be gathering together to read, chat, and then read some more!  Here’s the plan:  For 30 minutes, we'll be diving into our individual books. This isn’t a book club, so there will be no assigned reading or group discussions. After 30 minutes of reading, there will be a 15 minute breather to chat (or not) with other folks about our latest reads before diving back into your books! Then repeat to your hearts content, or until the brewery closes, whichever comes first.

This group is intended for all levels of social comfort and reading style. Whether you can’t wait to chat with a new friend about your favorite author or you’ll be using those 15 minutes of chatter to order yourself another beer, please join us!  We’re excited to unite a community of book lovers, so we hope to see you out!

Our annual Half New Year Party is back for a fourth year in a row!🎆🎇⁠
⁠
As is tradition here at Fait la Force, we will be ringing in the New Year with our friends in jolly ole England at 6pm CST! ⁠
⁠
Want to celebrate the new year, but struggle to make it to midnight? Looking for a place to pregame your big midnight party? Just want a beer after the long holiday season with your in-laws? Well this is the spot for you! It’s always a fun night with all you FLF regulars, so we hope to see you out!⁠
⁠
L'Union Fait la Force || Strength in Auld Lang Syne

KRAMPUS RAMPAGE IS BACK! Not only did we sell out last year, but WE HAD AN ABSOLUTE BLAST! Here’s what you can expect this year with Nashville’s FAVORITE HOLIDAY HAUNT.

Saturday, Dec 20th 6PM-10PM + AFTER PARTY
•4 Stops @newheightsbrewing @faitlaforcebrewing @cyanidecider @jackalopebrew
•Activities and drink specials at each stop. We’re talking karaoke, painting spooky ornaments, pin the tail on Krampus AND MORE.
•Group and individual COSTUME CONTEST for prizes. DON’T LOSE!
•After party RAFFLE DRAW at Jackalope Brewing. Win raffle tickets when you buy drinks AND/OR bring items for The HoneyTree Meadery FOOD DRIVE. Check out the list of what we need you to bring on the event webpage.

www.musiccitybrewhop.com/krampus-rampage (or screenshot and select the QR code)

On the third Tuesday of every month, we'll be gathering together to read, chat, and then read some more!  Here’s the plan:  For 30 minutes, we'll be diving into our individual books. This isn’t a book club, so there will be no assigned reading or group discussions. After 30 minutes of reading, there will be a 15 minute breather to chat (or not) with other folks about our latest reads before diving back into your books! Then repeat to your hearts content, or until the brewery closes, whichever comes first.

This group is intended for all levels of social comfort and reading style. Whether you can’t wait to chat with a new friend about your favorite author or you’ll be using those 15 minutes of chatter to order yourself another beer, please join us!  We’re excited to unite a community of book lovers, so we hope to see you out!

Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “Frankenstein Unbound,” on the continual reimagining of Mary Shelley’s novel and what adaptations reveal about our evolving anxieties, by Stephanie A. Graves, scholar of horror and the Gothic and adjunct lecturer of English at Middle Tennessee State University.

[Doors open at 6 pm. Talk starts at 7.]

The new Guillermo del Toro film adaptation of Frankenstein is just one of countless iterations of a tale that have haunted the cultural imagination for more than two centuries.

Join Stephanie A. Graves, whose excellent talks on horror have earned her a big following among Profs and Pints audiences, for a fascinating exploration of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel and how it has continued to shape human understanding of science, creation, hubris, and monstrosity.

We’ll start by examining the remarkable origins of a novel conceived by an 18-year-old Mary Shelley during a ghost story competition. We’ll consider how its biographical and historical context enriches our reading of this foundational Gothic text, with its themes of scientific hubris, blind ambition, and the construction of the Other. 

Turning to key adaptations across different media, Graves will offer a brief survey of differing versions of the story, including James Whale's iconic 1931 film, Kenneth Branagh's devoted 1994 interpretation, and even Mel Brooks’ hilarious 1974 Young Frankenstein. We’ll particularly focus on Guillermo del Toro's adaptation, which itself references many of these previous adaptations in its revival of Shelly’s novel. We’ll consider how he asks audiences to reconsider who the real monster is—a question that resonates powerfully in our current moment.

In assessing Frankenstein’s influence, we’ll look at what makes Frankenstein so adaptable and why does this story about creation and responsibility continues to speak to contemporary audiences.

Among the questions Graves will tackle: How do these different adaptations reflect their historical moments? And what does our fascination with the story reveal about humanity's relationship with technology and Otherness? (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)

Tickets

We are pleased to announce that our Valar & Vitality Edition event for Astronomy on Tap will be held on TUES. Dec 9th at Fait La Force Brewing!

This event will feature 2 amazing speakers:

• Harrison Blake-Goszyk
  Why the Hell is Earth so Perfect for Life?

• Dr. Rithya Kunnawalkam Elayavalli
  Cosmology of Middle Earth

There will be trivia and more prizes after! So come on out after a long day of hard work in the middle of the week and relax while we bombard you with fun astro facts, beer, and prizes!

Make sure to RSVP for the free event at EventBrite.

Please share to all and any who might be interested!

Doors 6:00pm | Event 7:00 pm

Check out our Chapter Site and upcoming event dates.

Join us for our first ever “Beer and Coffee Run”! @theexchangerunningcollective has planned a really fun run through Wedgewood-Houston for all levels of runners to enjoy.

Treat yourself at the finish line to a coffee from @elgatonegro.coffee and/or a beer from @faitlaforcebrewing and a sandwich from @jamboxdeli

@panda_performance_therapy will also be on site to chat through all your PT needs

When: Saturday, December 6th
Time: 11am
Where: Fait la Force Brewery
Who: Runners of all levels!

Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “Becoming the Witch,” on witchcraft initiations in folklore and fairy tales, with Cory Thomas Hutcheson, folklorist, lecturer at Middle Tennessee State University, and author of New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic.

[Doors open at 6 pm. Talk starts at 7.]

Becoming one of the witches of folklore was never as simple a matter as learning a few spells or grabbing a pointy hat. It required a lot more effort than that.

Among the paths some took to get there: Striking a deal with a sinister figure standing at a crossroads. Venturing into a dark forest—with only a doll for protection—to confront a cannibalistic witch. Shooting the moon with a silver bullet to make it bleed magic into you.

Folklore is riddled with methods for becoming a witch, and by coming to Nashville’s Fait La Force taproom on October 30th you can learn where these stories come from and what they tell us about the nature of witches and folk sorcery.

Cory Thomas Hutcheson, a folklorist whose several excellent past talks have earned him a substantial following among Profs and Pints fans, will explore the lore of witch initiations found in folklore, fairy tales, historical accounts, and other sources.

We’ll look at the three key methods by which people become witches: being born into witchery, or being called into it, or learning it through study and practice. You’ll meet examples of sorcerous folk. 

We’ll also examine the unique challenges, ethical questions, allies, enemies, and opportunities faced by newly made witches in places ranging from Appalachia to Ukraine.

If you want to gear up for Halloween by learning about all things witchy, you couldn’t ask for a better teacher than Dr. Hutcheson, who along with writing New World Witchery hosts a podcast by the same name and edited Llewellyn’s Complete Book of North American Folk Magic.

If on the way home you encounter a black goat who asks, “Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?” you’ll have a better sense of the consequences of your reply.

Tickets

(Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)

Price: $25 per person

Includes: Trolley transportation, 4 brewery/cidery stops, activities & drinks available for purchase, after-party with live music at Jackalope Brewing

Special: Visit all 4 stops to enter raffle ($500+ in prizes)

Location: Starting point details sent 48 hours before event

Note: 21+ only. Please plan a safe ride home.

What's included

Includes: Trolley transportation, 4 brewery/cidery stops, activities & drinks available for purchase, after-party with live music at Jackalope Brewing

Itinerary

6:00 PM – Check-in at starting location (details sent 48 hrs prior)

6:45PM – 9:30PM – Ride the Brewhop loop to 4 different stops with drinks and activities along the way

9:30 PM – Close – After-party at Jackalope Brewing with live music, spooky cocktails, dancing, and raffle prize draw

Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “Southern Gothic Horror,” on regional tales that keep us awake at night, with Stephanie A. Graves, scholar of horror and lecturer in English at Middle Tennessee State University.

[Doors open at 6 pm. Talk starts at 7.]

From the AMC series Interview with a Vampire to the enormously popular film Sinners, works aptly classified as Southern Gothic horror grip the popular imagination like a hand thrust up from a moss-covered grave.  

But what exactly makes film or literature Southern Gothic, and what makes horror that intersects with it so unsettling?

Learn the answers to such questions by venturing into this dark realm of the imagination with Stephanie Graves, who previously has given excellent Profs and Pints talks on sex and the horror film and on Christmas frights. 

We’ll explore the Southern Gothic as a stylistic mode that has influenced broader horror traditions. We’ll also look at how it amplifies horror’s ability to unsettle by rooting fear in familiar soil, using the landscape of the South as both setting and spectral presence.

Graves will discuss how the classic Gothic literature that arose around in the castles and abbeys of Europe found its way across the Atlantic and adapted to the haunted landscapes of the American South. Part genre, part style, and part setting, the Southern Gothic flourished here by drawing from the inescapable presence of what lies buried, whether literally in the grave or figuratively in cultural memory. 

Southern Gothic horror highlights horror’s preoccupation with fear, dread, and the supernatural. It uses ghost stories, monstrous figures, and eerie rituals not only to entertain but also to expose deeper cultural anxieties related to class, race, gender, violence, and place. It continues to thrive as a cultural space where the spooky and supernatural entwine with history, memory, and dread.

Tickets

(Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)

We don’t care who you are, where you’re from, what you did, as long as you come play boy band trivia! Create a fan club and join us at Fait La Force Brewing for a night of pop music and nostalgia - 80s, 90s, 00s, kpop, r&b, and more. Can you hang tough and take home the title of #1 Super Fan?

To register, please email megan.adovasio-jones@nashville.gov by Oct. 13. Maximum 6 people per team. 

Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “Ancient DNA and De-Extinction,” on the quest to bring back dire wolves and other long-lost species, with Katie McCormack, ancient DNA researcher at Vanderbilt University and lecturer in the sociology and anthropology department at Middle Tennessee State University.

[Doors open at 6 pm. Talk starts at 7.]

Is it true, per last spring’s headlines, that we’ve actually revived the extinct dire wolf using ancient DNA? What does it mean if we did?

Come to Nashville’s Fait La Force taproom to hear such questions tackled by Katie McCormack, who writes about genetic ethics and the impact of genetic technology and whose own research combines genetics and archaeology to study our prehistoric ancestors based on their microbial DNA.

She’ll introduce you to the field of ancient DNA (aDNA) research and bring you up to speed on efforts to reconstruct ancient genomes, the combinations of genetic information that helped make our hominid ancestors and other species what they were. She’ll give you an overview of the science that makes studying and using samples of ancient DNA possible and walk you through the history of efforts to find meaning in small fragments of DNA that survive in the archaeological record.

She’ll explore some of the major discoveries such technology makes possible and discuss efforts to bring back the dire wolf, the woolly mammoth, the dodo, and even Tyrannosaurus Rex. 

You’ll learn about the Neanderthal-Human babies in your family tree, about research suggesting that seals brought Tuberculosis to the Americas, and why we almost certainly won’t be bringing T-Rex back any time soon. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)