Nerd Nite Denver launches this week with talks on killing zombies and supercomputers

Kyle MunKittrick "is not a zombie expert," according to Nerd Nite Denver co-boss Sara D. Wilson. The NYU-trained bioethicist "took the lens and looked at the undead and the idea of the undead," she explains. "He was able to take that particular understanding of the topic and shed new light."...

By Susanna Speier

May 12, 2014

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Kyle MunKittrick "is not a zombie expert," according to Nerd Nite Denver co-boss Sara D. Wilson. The NYU-trained bioethicist "took the lens and looked at the undead and the idea of the undead," she explains. "He was able to take that particular understanding of the topic and shed new light."

MunKittrick will be on hand to talk about the ethics of killing the undead at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, when Wilson and Ana Draghici, Nerd Nite Denver's other co-boss, will launch the first Nerd Nite Denver at Forest Room 5. MunKittrick's talk will be followed by a presentation by Paul Constantine, assistant professor in applied math and statistics at the Colorado School of Mines: "When will supercomputers take over the world?"

Like MunKittrick, Constantine is a veteran Nerd Nite presenter. "We really wanted to set the bar," Wilson says, explaining her choice to book two speakers, both of whom now live in Denver, for this city's launch.

While living in New York, Wilson frequented Galapagos Arts Space in Brooklyn, where Nerd Nite, the monthly series founded by Chris Balakrishnan then taken over and run by Matt Wasowski, became her "home away from home." She developed an affinity for the event where "people who were not necessarily experts but just curious," she explains, and so when Wilson relocated to Denver, Wasowski connected her to Ana Draghici. Together they created Nerd Nite Denver. According to Wasowski, Denver will be the eightieth city to host the event.

"There's a Power Point," Wilson continues. "Presenters are introduced, they do a twenty-some-odd-minute presentation and then there's a Q&A. We'll have a little break between the presentation. It's almost a salon."

Nerd Nite Denver is now actively seeking presenters for what's envisioned as a monthly event; you can find more information here. "I would love to be the Gertrude Stein of the nerd community in Denver," Wilson declares, then adds, "maybe a little less corpulent than Gertrude."

"Sometimes nerds feel underrepresented," she continues. And her definition of nerd? "Anyone who is passionate about something."

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