Nerd Nite London - September2019

NERD NITE LONDON, WHERE IT’S HIP TO BE SQUARE.

Nerd Nite London is a monthly event where three speakers give 18-21 minute fun-yet-informative talks across all disciplines, while the audience drinks along. This September we're back to kick off our Autumn season with three great speakers, talking about London's hidden Black history, an amazing composer you've probably never heard of, and how we humans have been meddling with nature for centuries. Be there and be square

Address: the Backyard Comedy Club, 231 Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 0EL
Details: Wednesday, May 15

Tickets: Early nerd tickets £6, general admission £7.50. 

Doors open at 7pm, event starts: 7.30pm
Bar opens at 5pm.

The hidden Black history of London’s streets

How much of London’s streets do you notice on your daily commute? This presentation will provide evidence of 2,000 years of the African/Caribbean presence in London, contributing to some of the most popular institutions and architecture over centuries before Africans were enslaved.

Tony Warner (@BlackHistWalker)is director of Black History Walks and creator of the Black History bus tours and river cruises. Tony has been an activist for educational reforms for many years, believing that including contributions made by Africans to the curriculum improve the fullness history and raise the self and racial esteem of young people. He has designed history courses for schools, the met police and a host of public sector organisations.

Clara: Sex, Love and Classical Music

In 2015 Elena Mazzon realised that, in years of piano training, she had never played a woman’s music.Incredulous, she delved into a long research that brought to the surface a whole underworld of great, female composers, of whom, unfortunately, we are not told about. Amongst all those women, why Clara Schumann? In this presentation, Elena will explore her journey in “discovering” Clara Schumann, shedding some light on a fascinating and controversial woman and posing questions that we still haven’t answered in the 21st Century.

Clara marked Elena’s debut as a writer. The play has been performed in London, Los Angeles, Italy and Iceland. In 2019, to celebrate Clara Schumann’s Bicentenary, Elena adapted Clara to a radio-play version. Elena trained as an actress in Italy and she’s been living in London since 2006. She also studied Classical Piano and holds an MA degree in English and German literature. 

Creating creatures: the story of selective breeding

We’ve been shaping animals for years. Even before we figured out how it all worked, we’ve been selectively breeding animals so that each new generation looked, functioned and behaved increasingly how we’d like them to. We now know that we’ve been influencing the genetic composition of these animals to create these changes. Join us for an overview of selective breeding, and a look at some of the (simpler) genetic interactions that enable us to alter animal populations.

Praveen is not a geneticist, nor is he a genius, but he is a generous practitioner of the art of procrastination. He has spent, and continues to spend time he doesn’t have, on trying to understand the delights of animals and plants (but not minerals), and how we humans interact with them.

All proceeds from Nerd Nite London go to charity. This year we are partnering with the Shine Trust to help foster a new generation of nerds.

More information about Nerd Nite London can be found by following us on Twitter @nerdnitelondon, liking us on Facebook www.facebook.com/NerdNiteLondon or visiting www.london.nerdnite.com. For more information about the Shine Trust visit www.shinetrust.org.uk