On 13 November, the Saló de Graus hosted the presentation of the book De pie sobre la tierra: caminar, correr y danzar, edited by Faculty of Humanities lecturer and coordinator of the SARX Research Group Xavier Escribano. The book, recently published by Editorial Síntesis, includes a series of philosophical and interdisciplinary essays written by thirteen different authors, which explore our natural condition as creatures that walk, run and dance upright, with two feet on the ground, from multiple perspectives. The event was presented by Faculty dean Judith Urbano and consisted of a colloquium moderated by Dr Escribano, in which several authors from the publication took part. 

According to Dr Escribano, “the aim of our project is to integrate various perspectives about the body, not exclude”. And sure enough, the book is based on a phenomenological description of what it means to stand, walk, run and dance upright upon the earth and provides insight into the medical, pedagogical, artistic and even technological ramifications of this primordial relationship between the human foot and the earth.

The author of one of the chapters, nurse and lecturer at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Rebeca Gómez, noted that “the body, equipped with abilities and capable of movement, is our window for exploring the world”. The colloquium also featured Carles Escalona, podiatrist and lecturer at the University of Vic; architect and philosopher Pau Pedragosa; and philosophers and lecturers in the Faculty of Humanities at UIC Barcelona, Martín Curiel and Bernat Torres. Pedragosa reflected on the manner in which humans divide space in virtue of human activity, going on to say that, “things like sandals and houses actually act as intermediaries, because they ensure harmony between the vulnerable body and hostile nature”. Bernat Torres, on the other hand, analysed the act of dancing from a Platonic perspective: “Through dance we are able to convey a sense of order which transcends the body and transmits essential values”.