10 events in Boston this month that will make you smarter
Because more than just college students can learn something new.
Want fun things to do in Boston, delivered to your inbox every Thursday? Sign up for the BosTen newsletter, our weekly roundup of 10 not-lame events in the city.Boston is bursting at the seams with intellect. With more than 40 colleges and universities in the area—including two of the world’s most prestigious—Greater Boston is a haven for some of the brightest historians, programmers, doctors, writers, biologists, and engineers in the world.
With so many brilliant minds forming and firming in its vicinity, Bostonians—regardless of age, income, and education level—have an overwhelming (and unique) opportunity to learn via lectures, workshops, and events. It’s one of the best things about our city.
The goal of this list is to trim down the seemingly endless cognitive possibilities Boston offers into a manageable itinerary for the curious mind. Here are 10 events in the month of November that will make you brighter.
You’re the Expert at Museum of Science
WBUR’s new radio program You’re the Expert is taping a live show at the Museum of Science on Wednesday. The show uses comedy and the energy of a live audience to make academic research more accessible. Similar to NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, a panel of comedians will play a game in an attempt to learn what that week’s guest scientist studies. (Wednesday, November 2 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Museum of Science, Boston; $15; all ages)
The Evolution of the Rose Kennedy Greenway
For anyone who didn’t grow up in Boston, it’s almost inconceivable that the area now known as the Rose Kennedy Greenway once held the the transportation monstrosity known as the Central Artery, and then spent more than a decade in construction purgatory as the Big Dig crawled toward completion. Darrah Cole, the Greenway’s senior horticulturist and designer, is giving a talk about how the area has continuously evolved during its short existence, and how plant choice and general design philosophy has turned the space into what it is today. (Wednesday, November 2 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; NonProfit Center Boston; suggested donation $10; all ages)
Almost Forgotten Female Inventors
Many of the earliest American inventors, from Eli Whitney to Samuel Colt, were driven by the desire to speed up and automate processes. But as Charles River Museum Resident Historian Amy Green, Ph.D., will discuss, there are a number of women inventors from the same time period who have mostly escaped mention in the history books. (Wednesday, November 2 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Charles River Museum of Industry, Waltham; free; all ages)
Every 28 Hours
Stemming from a widely read (but ultimately disproven) assertion that every 28 hours a black person is killed by a vigilante, security guard, or police officer, the Every 28 Hours project is a series of 80 one-minute plays inspired by the work and message of the Black Lives Matter Movement. You can see the plays and learn more about the project during a performance at the Museum of Fine Arts. (Saturday, November 5 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Remis Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts; free; all ages)
Delicious Decomposition: Tales from the Cheese Caves of France
This is the final edition of Harvard University’s 2016 Science and Cooking lecture series. The cheesy talk will feature Sister Noella Marcellino, Ph.D., a famous artisanal cheesemaker and microbiologist who studied the biodiversity of cheese-ripening fungi in France and has been featured in a number of cooking documentaries, and Mateo Kehler, cofounder and manager of Jasper Hill Farm and Caves in Greensboro, Vermont. (Monday, November 7 at 7 p.m.; Science Center Lecture Hall C; free; all ages)
Come Write at Peabody Essex Museum
November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and the Peabody Essex Museum wants to help everyone tell a story. For those whose creativity thrives in a community setting, the PEM is offering a number of writing sessions with a coffeehouse atmosphere inside its walls, but we’re highlighting the November 13 session, which includes a free tour of the Lunar Attraction exhibition. (Sunday, November 13 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.; Peabody Essex Museum; free; all ages)
Jellyfish: Are They Taking Over?
For some, a mere mention of jellyfish sends shivers down the spine, conjuring images of painful stings from slimy tentacles. Dr. Lisa-ann Gershwin, director of the Australian Marine Stinger Advisory Services, will be on hand to discuss why jellies have been popping up more and more recently, and what it means for the future of both ocean habitats and humanity. (Wednesday, November 16 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Simons IMAX Theatre, New England Aquarium; free; all ages)
John Adams’s Republic
In a lecture about his new book on the second president, John Adams’s Republic, author Richard Allen Ryerson will discuss the concerns Adams had about the potential for wealthy elites to wield unchecked power in the newly formed country, and how a strong executive could counter the moneyed aristocracy. (Wednesday, November 16 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Massachusetts Historical Society; $10; all ages)
An Evening with David Sedaris
Author, humorist, and famed NPR contributor David Sedaris is coming to Symphony Hall for a Sunday evening conversation. It’s sure to be heavy on incisive wit and devastatingly funny observations on the human condition. (Sunday, November 20 at 7 p.m.; Symphony Hall; $50-60; all ages)
Museums Without Walls
Visit any number of area museums, and you’ll be equally impressed by the structures themselves as by the art they hold. But Boston Athanaeum Director of Exhibitions David Derringer believes the city itself is a museum, “whose floor is the earth and whose ceiling is the sky.” Derringer will be giving a talk on the three major galleries of the museum — the Boston Common, the Boston Public Garden, and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall — and the public sculptures that make up its bountiful collection. (Tuesday, November 29 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.; Boston Athenaeum; free; all ages)
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