Nerd Nite Harare

Superheroes in the Cinema
Timeless tales told for a new audience, or rehashed recaps recycled to feed the money machine?

Love them or hate them, the comic-book based superhero movies are here to stay for the next few years. Where do you stand in the debate? Come and listen in and add your opinion on the first 2-way debate presentation we have hosted.
Former Speakers Drew and Simba are each taking sides in this debate, which promises to be lively and entertaining. Come along and add your opinions to the discussion!

Starts at 7pm, at Tristan’s at 14 Aintree (AKA Half Bar)

Drug dependency at the mercy of foreign money – is this our future?
Clive

Bio: Clive’s been working in public health, programming, research & education in 4 countries across the region and, strangely enough, he continues to be fascinated, hopeful for the future.

NEW!!! Kamikaze Presentation

A talk with a moderate-to-high chance of “crash & burn”. A volunteer presents a talk based on slides prepared by the Nerd Bosses. They will see them for the first time as they present…

The Search for Guruuswa
Shingi Mtezo

Discussion of the mythic place of origin of all Bantu peoples

NEW!!! Roundtable discussion

The African Origins of Civilisation: Theories, Myths & Conspiracies

Urban Regeneration
Kwaku Dzvukamanja

Is City Living Possible in Harare?

Bio: Kwaku is a 30 something year old property professional with just enough knowledge to have an opinion. His life ambition is to live long enough to witness (or be part of) manned exploration of Mars.

Look on the Bright Side!
Drew Rawlins

Why the future will be better than we think… A brief analysis of some of the new technologies and ideas that will change our world for the better, and how we can all be involved.

Bio: Nerd Nite Co-Boss (Host?), designer, creative, thinker and doer.

L. Ron Hubbard – Human (?), Founder of Scientology, Zimbabwe
Joseph Crnkovic

Bio: Human, accountant, Zimbabwean.

Thievery Corps: take something for nothing and save the world
Simbarashe Mavesera

A brief look at how our collective efforts as thieves could reshape
our society for the better and save the environment.

“Be yourself. Don’t imagine that your perfection lies in accumulating or possessing external things.” – Oscar Wilde

Bio: Amongst many other influences, Simba was taught the beautiful depths of human feeling by Wilde and to believe in the power of ideas and the potential of human thought by Shaw. By always doing what he is passionate about, he has managed to never really work a day in his life. He is an unrepentant skeptic who nonetheless has faith in human ingenuity. He is a firm believer in having a wide knowledge base and in always exploring what interests you, not just what you are supposed to learn. His current interests include amongst others, cyber security, psychology, economics, theoretical physics, game theory, law, political science, sexuality and gender studies. He has been accused of being a film, literary and music snob for his love of world cinema, music and cultural influences.

Star Trekking and the Known Universe – Science Fiction to Reality
Lee W John

A discussion on the popularity of Star Trek over the past decades and a comparison to what we know about the universe and what has become reality.

Bio: Lee grew up loving science and making bombs and rockets and digging up minerals. He studied BSc Chemistry at varsity while using bombs and rockets in the military. After working in a mine he went back to varsity and studied Chemical Engineering, then worked his way up to mine manager (using lots of explosives ☺ ) and is now a consulting engineer.

Having always had a passion for nature, science and the unknown has meant that there has never been a moment of boredom in life. Always something to ponder from the rocks of this planet to the dust in the universe.

It is known…
Tendai Gadzikwa

Pondering the idea of “wrong” in Science by examining my favourite obsolete theory.

Bio: Tendai was once described by a colleague as a “liberal arts chemist”, but those less kind might prefer the phrase “Jack of all trades, master of none”. She prefers to think of herself as a “chemist who likes to know ‘things’ and make ‘stuff’”. Having obtained a Bachelor of Arts(!) in Chemistry, she spent both her PhD and postdoc years messing about in labs, building nanostructures for various applications. She is now lecturing in Chemistry at the UZ, while still trying to make stuff in the lab. She’s also a Nerd Nite co-boss, which she hopes will satisfy her need to know all the things.

Intro to Nerd Nite
Harare co-bosses Tendai and Drew

The Dark Knight: 75 years of Batman
Drew Rawlins

How a pulp comic crime-fighter has become a global icon, a superhero, and a billion dollar brand.

Bio: Drew Rawlins is a self-confessed nerd and geek of the highest order, and has been since he was old enough to know better.

Africa Animated
Nqobizitha Mlilo

Bio: Nqobizitha Mlilo, also known as Enqore is a Zimbabwean Digital artist, Filmmaker and Hip-Hop poet. For the most part a self taught artist, Enqore has created and directed short films, a wide range of music videos, training videos and various commercial animation work. He is mostly known for his substantial work in the Zimbabwean entertainment industry because of his use of visual effects and digital sets in his music videos. He also creates online video training for Pixelcorps.com as well as his site enqoremedia.com.