Profs and Pints - Nashville

Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “The Hospitals of Civil War Nashville,” on the city’s days as an epicenter of care for victims of strife, with Brandon Hulette, epidemiologist, historian, and associate professor at Vanderbilt University.

[Doors open at 6 pm. Talk starts at 7. Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nashville-civil-war-hospitals ]

Today’s Nashville is known as the “Healthcare Capital of the World,” being home to several hospitals, three medical schools, and more than 900 healthcare companies ranging from industry giants like HCA to a vibrant array of startups. However, the city’s history as a major healthcare provider began long before today’s big players came into being, having its origins in a period of devastating national conflict.

During the Civil War, Nashville was home to over 26 military hospitals serving the sick and injured from both the Union and Confederate armies throughout the conflict. Its massive complex of hospitals served over 100,000 patients during the war, and it served 20 to 30 percent of all Confederate soldiers in need of care even after Nashville was occupied by the U.S. Army in 1861.

Hear the fascinating story of Nashville's Civil War Hospitals from Vanderbilt professor and Army Medical Service Corps Officer Brandon Hulette. He’ll describe how all of this came to be, he’ll tell the stories of the people involved, and he’ll point out locations in Nashville where Civil War hospitals existed.

You’ll learn how as the war progressed Nashville became known as one of the most important cities for military medicine. It even had a dedicated hospital train to move wounded to the city.

You’ll gain an appreciation of the rich history of the city and the noble origins of its commitment to healthcare. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)

Image: A hospital in West Nashville devoted to those afflicted with smalplox (Tennessee State Library and Archives).

Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “Nature’s Hidden Logic,” a look at how natural selection and evolution are being harnessed to solve today’s problems, with Owen Jones, professor of law and of biological sciences at Vanderbilt University and author of Force of Nature: Understanding Evolution's Deepest Logic—and Putting It to Use.

[Doors open at 6 pm. Talk starts at 7. Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nashville-nature-logic .]

Research shows that deep misconceptions about how natural selection actually works are surprisingly common, even among biology teachers and medical students.

Those misunderstandings don't just affect our understanding of the past. They also can cost us opportunities and undermine our efforts to reach our goals. They sometimes even imperil lives, having previously led us, for example, to rely on cancer treatments that actually made cancer stronger.

Join Vanderbilt professor Owen Jones for a talk that will show you how natural selection is far more than a process that helped shape life on Earth. It is one of nature's most powerful problem-solving frameworks and one of today's most underused tools for innovation. NASA, for example, designed a better satellite antenna using evolution rather than engineering alone.

Drawing on fascinating examples from medicine, artificial intelligence, engineering, psychology, economics, law, and beyond, Professor Jones will show how evolutionary thinking is already helping scientists improve cancer treatments, design remarkable new technologies, and solve problems that have resisted conventional approaches.

You'll leave with a new understanding of how natural selection actually works and why it matters far beyond biology. You’ll see how thinking more like nature can help us build smarter technologies, wiser policies, and a more resilient future. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)

Image: Wildebeest crossing a river. (Photo by Eric Inafuku / Creative Commons.)