Profs and Pints Metro Baltimore

Profs and Pints Baltimore presents: “Doing Well When Unwell,” on drawing from philosophy to cope with what ails us, with Drew Leder, M.D., professor of both western and eastern philosophy at Loyola University Maryland and author of The Healing Body: Creative Responses to Illness, Aging, and Affliction.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/baltimore-doing-well-when-unwell .]

It’s part of the human journey that sometimes our body “betrays” or challenges us and we can no longer take our health fully for granted. Such setbacks, as well as chronic conditions, can disrupt our relationships to our body, to others, to our experience of lived space and time, and to even to our identity and sense of meaning.

Explore how to deal with such bodily challenges existentially as well as medically with Dr. Drew Leader, an internationally known scholar who has written several books on bodily experience and its implications for philosophy.

He’ll discuss 20 different strategies for coping creatively with bodily challenges—falling under broad categories such as “escaping the body,” “embracing the body,” or “remaking the body”—and their benefits and drawbacks. You’ll get a better understanding of which ones you are employing already and which ones might work better for you.

His talk will deeply engage with the legacies of continental philosophy while also drawing insights from the traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Both your mind and your body might be better off for your having attended. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Bar doors open at 5 pm. The talk starts at 6:30).

Image by Canva.

Profs and Pints Baltimore presents: “The Science of Curiosity,” on understanding and cultivating your desire to learn more, with Todd B. Kashdan, professor of psychology and founder of The Well-Being Lab at George Mason University and author of Curious?

[Doors open at 5. The talk starts at 6:30. The room is open seating. Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/baltimore-curiosity ]

We’ve all heard that curiosity killed the cat, but in reality, curiosity is the secret sauce behind human achievement, vitality, deep connection, and resilience. Often given minimal attention and regarded merely as one of many useful personality traits, it actually represents a complex, high-octane psychological strategy that can be harnessed to live a life that is happier, richer, and more meaningful.

Move beyond the clichés about curiosity to explore the true mechanics of the “hungry mind” with Dr. Todd Kashdan, whose laboratory at George Mason University serves as an incubator of scientific knowledge on how people can live better and reach their potential.

He’ll begin with a provocative look at how curiosity functions. Then he’ll dive into a discussion of curiosity’s diverse dimensions and its benefits as well as its costs.

From there he’ll explore a few strategies to cultivate this psychological strength and look at the downstream benefits of doing so.

Harnessing the power of curiosity is not just about asking "why?" It’s about understanding the trade-offs we make when we choose where to invest our limited time and energy.

You’ll walk away with practical, science-backed strategies to boost your own curiosity and channel it for success in your career, your relationships, and your daily life. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)

Image: Studying the comet NEOWISE in August 2020. (Photo by Palonitor / Wikimedia Commons.)

Profs and Pints Baltimore presents: “What We Know About Snow,” a meteorologist’s take on the science of snow and snowstorm prediction, with Jeffrey Halverson, professor of geography and environmental systems at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and author of An Introduction to Severe Storms and Hazardous Weather.

[Doors open at 5. The talk starts at 6:30. The room is open seating. Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/baltimore-know-snow ]

Will the weather outside be frightful? Get answers where it’s delightful. Guilford Hall is the place to go to learn of snow, learn of snow, learn of snow.

Regardless of whether you’re a winter sports enthusiast who welcomes blizzards or someone who spends the season dreaming of an escape to the tropics, you can gain a much deeper understanding of the white stuff with the help of Dr. Jeffrey Halverson, a severe storm expert with the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang who gave an excellent Profs and Pints talks on hurricanes in the fall.

A seasoned meteorologist and snow forecaster, he’ll discuss how and when snow is formed, describe the different types of snow out there, and tell you what determines whether the atmosphere generates snow as opposed to sleet or freezing rain. You’ll learn the difference between a nuisance “Alberta Clipper” snow event and a blockbuster East Coast snowstorm, and why some winter seasons feature memorable—if not historical—snowstorms while others have just small snow events or experience “snow drought.”

You’ll gain an appreciation of how the science of snowfall is nuanced and differs markedly in the Mid Atlantic compared to other notoriously snowy regions such as the Great Lakes “snowbelt” or the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada. You’ll learn the pitfalls and common traps that people fall into in trying to predict snowfall using the data from numerical weather prediction models readily available today to casual users.

Dr. Halverson will tackle the debate over whether the American or European weather prediction models do a better job and discuss Artificial Intelligence’s entry into the forecast game. Accounts of the Baltimore region’s most historic snowstorms will be sprinkled in for good measure. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)

Image: A bright moment in the aftermath of the infamous 1928 Knickerbocker Snowstorm (Library of Congress photo).

Profs and Pints Baltimore presents: “Emotional Literacy,” a research-based discussion of our feelings’ sources and impact on our overall well-being, with Tiffany McIntyre, adjunct professor at Towson University and practicing psychotherapist.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/baltimore-emotional-literacy .]

Genuine emotional awareness has become challenging to foster in a culture shaped by chronic stress, urgency, and hyper-individualism. Many people lack the tools to recognize, label, and work with their inner experiences, setting the stage for conflict, burnout, disconnection, and relational strain.

Gain a deep understanding of what emotions are and why they matter by hearing psychotherapist Tiffany McIntyre draw from affective science, neuropsychology, and her own clinical experience to shed light on our inner worlds.

She’ll discuss how inadequacies in affective education, which focuses on the emotional and social development of students, have resulted in emotions being misunderstood, suppressed, or treated as personal failures rather than essential sources of information. She’ll describe how many adults today are learning for the first time how emotions shape behavior, relationships, and health.

You’ll learn to understand emotions as functional, biological, and psychological systems. We’ll discuss how emotions are constructed in the brain and body, what they are designed to signal, and why people vary so widely in emotional intensity, awareness, and regulation.

There’s a good chance you’ll feel better for having come to this talk. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Bar doors open at 5 pm. The talk starts at 6:30).

Image by Canva.