Evening and Weekend Programs

The National Museum of Natural History remains temporarily closed. Please consult our calendar of events, museum websites, and si.edu for the latest updates. We appreciate your understanding.

Have fun, meet others, and explore the issues of our time through our science and cultural programming offered on evenings and weekends. Our After Hours events give you access to scientists, filmmakers, authors, and innovators seeking to better understand the natural world and our place in it. After Hours events are designed for adults, but all are welcome.

View After Hours Calendar

NMNH After Hours programs include:

Other Programs

Upcoming Online Program

Wednesday, August 19, 2020, from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. EDT:
From Foraging to Farming: How Our Skeletons Changed

Habiba Chirchir is a biological anthropologist at Marshall University and a research associate with the Human Origins Program at the National Museum of Natural History. After discovering humans had lower bone density than other primates, she set out to find out why by working with a team of researchers to examine human fossils in both the recent and distant past. Her new conclusion was surprising:  it all started when humans shifted from foraging and hunting to growing food and raising livestock — a fairly recent phenomenon in human prehistory. 
 
Given our sedentary lifestyles — and with food often just a click away — we need to protect our bones more than ever. Can we learn to do this by understanding our ancestors’ lifestyles? Join us as Chirchir shares her work and the new possibilities that may have contributed to lighter skeletons in humans.  
 
Moderator: Briana Pobiner, paleoanthropologist and educator at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
 
This program will be presented as a Zoom video webinar. A link will be emailed to all registrants. Register

This program is offered as part of the ongoing HOT (Human Origins Today) Topics series. 

Beyond the Exhibition

This series features the content, curators, and conversations inspiring new and developing exhibitions at the National Museum of Natural History.

Natural History on the Big Screen

This film series presents a curated selection of natural history-related films, followed by discussions with filmmakers and related experts.

An Evening With

This signature series features cutting-edge thought leaders in conversation with paleontologist and Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History, Kirk Johnson.

Anthropocene: Life in the Age of Humans

This discussion series explores human impact on the environment, featuring scholars, artists, and others in an intimate conversational setting.

Exploring the Arctic

These programs explore the cultures and natural history of the north.