Lectures on Tap - "Surviving the Holidays: The Dark Side of Family"

Professors, experts, and storytellers giving thought-provoking lectures in Chicago bars. 📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email 🧠 Lecture: "Surviving the Holidays: The Dark Side of Family" 🎤 Speaker: Dr. Megan Dowd Join us for an evening that digs into what really happens around the holiday table—beyond the small talk and carefully avoided subjects. Communication scholar Dr. Megan Dowd takes a research-driven look at the darker side of family communication: why certain comments can sting for years, how families create taboo topics and unspoken rules, and why the same conflicts seem to play on repeat. From the argument everyone sees coming to the empty chair nobody wants to explain, this lecture explores conflict, silence, distance, and family estrangement—and what our conversations (and lack of them) reveal about who gets to belong, what we owe one another, and when staying connected becomes complicated. Dr. Dowd is a communication scholar who studies how people build, manage, and unravel close relationships. She earned her PhD in Communication Studies and spent more than a decade teaching Interpersonal Communication, Family Communication, and The Dark Side of Communication at universities including Hamilton College, the University of Rhode Island, and Ohio University. Now a business strategist, she translates relationship research into engaging, practical insights about how people actually connect. Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌 Agenda 6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key. 6:55 PM – Host introduction 7:00 PM – Lecture begins 7:45 PM – Audience Q&A 8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round 8:30 PM – Wrap up.