Hey Baltimore Nerds! Welcome to our 17th installment of Nerd Nite! Come out January 16th, grab a beer and settle in for the best 2 hours you’ll spend on a Wednesday!

Nerd Nite Baltimore (NNB) is part of an international community of Nerd Nites in over 90 cities around the world! This event combines imbibing and learning.

Anyone with a passion can be a Nerd Nite speaker! Join us for a night of educational drinking! Nerd Nite Baltimore is a monthly event held at a local bar where information combines with fun. Talks at Nerd Nite are typically 20 minutes with a rollicking Q&A afterward. The barkeeps at De Kleine Duivel will keep your glasses full of delightful Belgian beer and spirits. (This is a 21 and over venue.) Doors open at 6:30…event starts at 7:00pm. We have a great line up for this month!

Talk descriptions below (in no particular order)

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‘Evidence’ by Renee F. Wilson

What is evidence? Is it something we know or something we just believe? This presentation aims to show people what proof and facts are, and just because you believe something doesn’t really mean it’s true. Does the release of a new Nick Cage movie cause people to drown by falling into a pool? Does eating more cheese lead to more death by entanglement in bed sheets? Maybe we’ll find out tonight, maybe not.

Renee is a Midwestern girl who has always loved science and has spent most of her professional career in the pursuit of evidence. She has been with the Evidence-based Practice Center for almost 15 years. Prior to this she worked as the managing editor of a medical journal, an environmental consultant, and was a graduate student.

‘Rhetoric’ by Cat Aboudara

Cat was going to be a tiger trainer and was pursuing Natural Resources & Conservation Studies at UC Berkeley as an undergraduate when she signed up for a Rhetoric class on a lark. She was hooked at mapping out her first syllogism (which will be explained!). Rhetoric which is considered a dead art, began 2500 years ago as the study of the forms of communication and argument essential to public, political and legal life in Ancient Greece. No one really knows what it is anymore but learning it gives a person some impressive communication superpowers as well as taking them down some totally interesting rabbit holes which Cat will attest to in this ode to Rhetoric.

Cat Aboudara has overseen adult programs that posit learning through play for over a decade in science centers across the country and has had such fun working with the likes of scientists, astronauts, inventors, jungles cats, comedians, and robots. She also moonlighted as the Nerd Nite DC Boss even though she had to trek down from Philly for over a year to do it! She has retired from bossing in DC (and the commute) and is now the mentor boss of Nerd Nite Global.

‘The Power of Breakfast Sandwiches’ by Dr. Neil Bardhan

Need more be said?

Neil is a returning Nerd Nite speaker from the very first Nerd Nite Baltimore in January 2016 (on the effect of your nasal cavity on vowel pronunciation)! We’re happy to have him return every 3 years. Neil is a native of Corning, NY (of glass fame), has a Ph.D in cognitive science and psycholinguistics, and is currently Executive Director at Broad Street Review and Manager for Applied Storytelling at First Person Arts in Philadelphia.