Humanities Center Series — Sports: Meaning and Action Series

The Humanities Center will present a semester-long exploration into Sports: Meaning and Action.

Women in Sports: Walking an Academic and Athletic Tightrope
Monday, September 9 at 6 p.m.
Warren Auditorium, Mother Rosalie Hill Hall

This discussion panel focuses on contemporary issues facing female athletes in their academic and athletic lives: How do they balance both demands? How does a 21st century student-athlete define herself? What issues are at stake regarding health, culture, gender and identity? Panel members include USD faculty, coaches and student-athletes.

The Dreaded Air-Ball Shot: Fear and Loathing on the Basketball Court

Nadav Goldschmied, PhD
Monday, September 16 at 6 p.m.
Humanities Center, Saints Tekakwitha and Serra Hall
Reception to follow

Do basketball players who just launched an “air-ball” shot and are then subjected to the dreaded air-ball chants subsequently perform worse? This is just one of the questions Dr. Nadav Goldschmied attempts to answer as he discusses his research into a myriad of psychological phenomena in the realm of sports.

Fear Is Unnecessary

Film Screening: Raging Bull
Wednesday, October 2 at 5 p.m.
Humanities Center, Saints Tekakwitha and Serra Hall

View the 1980 classic, Raging Bull, Martin Scorsese's film that documents the tortured life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose Achillean rage invites us to examine the perils of fearless aggression in a discussion to follow. 

Illume Special Guest Lecture

The Shape of an Ending (for Immortals and Mortals)
Blakey Vermeule, PhD
Thursday, October 3 at 6 p.m.
Warren Auditorium, Mother Rosalie Hill Hall
Reception to follow

Take Zinedine Zidane, Bill Buckner, Jake LaMotta and Tiger Woods. What can the shape of an athlete’s career — especially ones that end in failure — tell us about the shape and meaning of ordinary human lives? Explore this question with Dr. Vermeule, professor of English at Stanford University and author of Why Do We Care about Literary Characters? 

UFC Panel: From the Colosseum to the Cage
Wednesday, December 4 at 6 p.m.
Warren Auditorium, Mother Rosalie Hill Hall

Hear about the direct experiences of contemporary fighters from the world of MMA (mixed martial arts), which includes boxing, muay Thai, wrestling and jiujitsu. The panel features professional UFC fighters discussing their experiences in and out of the cage and how their training and competition affects their intellectual, physical and spiritual lives.

Rumble, Young Man, Rumble

Film Screening: Ali 
Thursday, December 5 at 5 p.m.
Humanities Center, Saints Tekakwitha and Serra Hall

Join us for a screening and discussion of Ali, Michael Mann's 2001 film which chronicles the life of boxing icon Muhammad Ali, whose heroic battles with the American justice system rivaled his legendary bouts in the ring.