Lecture by Vincent Barletta (ILAC): "Closeness in Boxing"

Speakers): Vincent Barletta (ILAC)

Join us for a conversation about closeness, and immerse yourself in the sounds, images and experience of boxing. This event brings the East Palo Alto Boxing Club to Stanford for an intimate event about the question of closeness. Some considerations: What are our conceptions of boxing? Let's think about.... the ability to endure and work with people getting very close to you * violence in sports vis-à-vis street violence * the boxer's body * close rivals and the intimacy of sparring * vulnerability, courage, and "heart" * dancing in the ring * how boxers learn their opponent * boxing as a springboard to sociability and membership * race in boxing * the impossibility of play in the ring * the knock-out * trustfulness between athletes and their coaches * emulating Ali * infighting * Johnnie C. Gray (Founder of the East Palo Alto Boxing Club, a non-profit program focused on at-risk youth, and three-time Golden Glove Champion) and amateur boxers from his gym will perform to a backdrop of sounds and images from the gym, and have a public conversation, moderated by Vincent Barletta, Professor of Iberian and Latin American Cultures. Refreshments will be served. CLOSENESS IN BOXING is a project in collaboration with the EPA Boxing Club to study the phenomenon of physical and emotional closeness and give the audience an intimate insight into the sport of boxing. The project is supported by the Office of Community Engagement, the DLCL Performance Focal Group, the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, and the Stanford Humanities Center.

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