Profs and Pints Meetup-Metro DC

Profs and Pints DC presents: “The Search for Human Origins,” on the quest for fossil remains of a missing link, with Noel Boaz, paleoanthropologist, founder of International Institute for Human Evolutionary Research, and author of books such as Quarry, Closing in on the Missing Link.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/human-origins .]

Profs and Pints is teaming up with the Washington D.C. chapter of the Explorers Club to offer a scholarly adventure: An evening with Noel Boaz, a scholar at the front lines of the search for fossil remains of the enigmatic and controversial first hominin, Sahelanthropus tchadensis.

Dr Boaz will begin by introducing his audience to anthropogeny, a multidisciplinary field that researches the origins of human species by studying not just the fossil remains of hominins themselves but also their ancient environments. Along with studying the genetic make-up of early hominins, it seeks to learn more about what plants and animals lived alongside them, what they ate, how caused their deaths, and how they became buried.

From there we’ll look at the quest to learn more about Sahelanthropus tchadensis, a species that dates to 6 and 7 million years ago, twice as far back as a better-known hominin ancestor, the eastern African species Australopithecus afarensis (or “Lucy.”) Dr. Boaz will discuss an upcoming expedition to the Libyan Sahara to look for evidence of Sahelanthropus tchadensis and the questions such researchers are trying to solve, related to the ecological drivers of human evolution and the evolution of the genus Homo in Africa and beyond.

Finally, we’ll look at what the study of such early ancestors and our primordial adaptations tells us about ourselves and how we fit—or don’t fit—into the modern environments which we have constructed for ourselves.

Dr. Boaz will have available for sale signed copies of his books, which along with Quarry include Eco Homo: How the Human Being Emerged from the Cataclysmic History of the Earth and Dragon Bone Hill: An Ice-Age Saga of Homo erectus. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.)

Image: A model of an adult male Sahelanthropus tchadensis on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. (Photo by Tim Evanson / Creative Commons.)

Profs and Pints DC presents: “Gender in a Digital World,” a look at how technology influences our understanding of gender and health, with Michelle R Kaufman, social psychologist, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and scholar of gender and sexuality.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/digital-gender .]

The digital world is both supporting and challenging gender equality in profound ways, many of which might surprise you. Come hear its influence discussed in depth by Dr. Michelle R. Kaufman, who researches how gender, sexuality, and other factors contribute to disparities in various measures of public health, including mental health and interpersonal violence, in the United States and elsewhere around the world.

Drawing from her global research, Dr. Kaufman will show how digital tools affect real people and how people think about gender and health. She’ll discuss the impact of social media movements like “Me Too” and shed light on the hidden biases in artificial intelligence. You’ll learn about research on the impact of Instagram and other social media platforms on body image and on how male attitudes can be shaped by video games.

Turning her attention to how such research is conducted, Dr. Kaufman will discuss the use of phone surveys and chatbots to gather sensitive information about gender-based violence, and what that means for privacy and trust. You’ll learn how studies often leave out data on women or those with minority gender identities, and why it’s always crucial to ask: Who is counted in our digital systems, and who is missing? (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.)

Image by Canva.

Profs and Pints Northern Virginia presents: “The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories,” with Brian A. Sharpless, licensed clinical psychologist, former faculty member at Penn State University and Washington State University, and author of Psychodynamic Therapy Techniques: A Guide to Expressive and Supportive Interventions.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/nv-conspiracy .]

What exactly is a conspiracy theory? Are people who believe in conspiracies fundamentally different from those who do not? Are there any ways to protect yourself from buying into false theories? How often do conspiracy theories actually turn out to be true?

These are just a few of the fascinating questions that will be tackled by Brian Sharpless, a favorite of Profs and Pints fans. He will discuss conspiratorial thinking throughout history, define what "conspiracy theory” means to psychologists and psychiatrists, and summarize what the field knows about the people who buy into conspiracy beliefs.

You may be surprised to learn that there are ways to predict who will believe in conspiracy theories, with some very common “cognitive biases” leaving people more accepting of them. Conspiracy theories also can provide short-term psychological benefits to the believer. Furthermore, a number of psychological traits and disorders – both common and rare – have been associated with conspiratorial thinking.

Perhaps most surprising, there are relatively few big differences
between those who are predisposed to believe in conspiracy theories and those who aren't. It's small differences that sometimes have a huge impact in worldview.

The good news is that there are ways to evaluate – and even “inoculate” yourself against – conspiracy theories, and Dr. Sharpless will offer you practical tips on this front. You may walk out with a different perspective on what you read in the news and on the internet, with new knowledge that may help you maintain a more realistic and accurate worldview. ( Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.)

Image: An Airbus A340 jet emits contrails, the subject of conspiracy beliefs. (Photo by Adrian Pingstone / Wikimedia.)

Profs and Pints DC presents: “Ancient Magic and Witchcraft,” on beliefs in supernatural powers in the Greece and Rome of antiquity, with Barbette Spaeth, professor emerita of classical studies at the College of William & Mary.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/dc-ancient-magic .]

In the Greco-Roman world of the ancient Mediterranean existed people who practiced magic and witchcraft in much the same way that we think of it today. They wrote down and uttered spells—for both themselves and their clients—to curse enemies, force others to fall in love, prophesy the future, heal both physical and mental injuries, and even raise the dead. Belief in their powers was widespread.

Take a scholarly journal back to antiquity to learn who practiced magic, and how they did it, with Professor Barbette Spaeth, an expert on Greek and Roman religion who has extensively researched ancient magic and witchcraft and offered two courses on it.

In a talk that has received rave audience reviews when previously given in Charlottesville and Richmond, Dr. Spaeth will discuss the evidence of ancient magical practices found in ancient Greek and Latin literature, inscriptions, and artifacts uncovered by archaeologists.

You’ll learn how ancient practitioners of magic could supposedly turn themselves into animals, be in two places at once, and force ghosts and demons to do their bidding. The tools they used in their work included plants and herbs, wands, lead tablets, and animal or human body parts.

While both women and men practiced magic, but there appears to have been marked differences in how they approached it. Men were considered "magicians" who learned their craft from books or consultations with divine beings and mainly practiced positive “white magic.” Women were more likely to be depicted practicing evil “black magic” that they learned from other female “witches” or through powers they’d come upon naturally.

Greek witches like Circe and Medea were seen as beautiful young women who did magic most commonly to help others, particularly their lovers. In contrast, Roman witches like Canidia and Erichtho, were portrayed as old ugly hags who used magic to harm others and ultimately to undermine the very foundations of the universe.

The state, particularly under the Roman Empire, tried to control the practice of magic, particularly the “black” form. The sanctions imposed on those convicted of practicing it included exile and execution. ( Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.)

Image: From the 1892 John William Waterhouse painting “Circe Invidiosa,” which depicts the witch Circe turning the beautiful maiden Scylla into a monster by pouring a magic potion into the waters where Scylla took her bath.