Reading the Foucault Collège de France Lectures with
Seyla Benhabib, Homi Bhabha, Judith Butler, Veena Das, François Ewald, Didier Fassin, James Faubion, Nancy Fraser, Frédéric Gros, Daniele Lorenzini, Nancy Luxon, Achille Mbembe, Paul Rabinow, Judith Revel, Pierre Rosanvallon, Ann Stoler, and Linda Zerilli
in conversation with Columbia University colleagues
Etienne Balibar, Partha Chatterjee, Jean Cohen, Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Katherine Franke, Robert Gooding-Williams, Stathis Gourgouris, Axel Honneth, Jeremy Kessler, Lydia Liu, Anna Lvovsky, Sharon Marcus, Alondra Nelson, John Rajchman, Emmanuelle Saada, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Kendall Thomas, Adam Tooze, and Nadia Urbinati
Moderated by Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco
Race war, biopolitics, the hermeneutics of the self, governmentality, the examination of one’s conscience, sécurité, the courage of truth, illégalismes, juridical forms, governing through truth, the “punitive society,” truth-telling, judicial apparatuses of repression, the Nu-pieds rebellions of 1639, parrhesia … Michel Foucault’s thirteen years of lectures at the Collège de France introduced us to new concepts and novel research avenues. For many of us, those avenues have been fertile ground for our own theorization, for others fertile ground for critique. They represent, as Foucault intended, rich and productive “pistes de recherches.”
With the publication of the entire series of lectures at the Collège de France—the last, Théories et institutions pénales (1971-1972) just released in May 2015—it is now time to read them chronologically: to grasp the overall project of those lectures at the Collège, to discuss the full trajectory, and to continue to excavate our own “pistes de recherche” building on Foucault’s.
The Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought and the Columbia Society of Fellows, with the support of the Maison Française, the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, and the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, are delighted to host 13 seminars on the 13 courses. The seminar series—Foucault 13/13—will extend over the full 2015-2016 academic year at Columbia University. The seminar series will be open to Columbia faculty, fellows, and students, as well as faculty and students from other New York universities.
Each seminar will be led by distinguished scholars from different disciplines. The seminars will take place on Monday evenings in the Fall semester (2015) and Thursday evenings in the Spring semester (2016) from 6:15pm to 8:45pm.
The seminars will be open to students and faculty from Columbia University and other New York universities (please bring university ID). Please RSVP at [list from Sundial, CU event listing place]. If you are interested in attending and would like a place reserved at the seminar table, please send an e-mail explaining your interest to Claire Merrill at cm3325@columbia.edu.
Event locations vary — please see event location for each seminar. The Columbia Maison Française is located on the Columbia campus in Buell Hall next to Low Library. The Heyman Center Common Room is located in the Heyman Center (in East Campus) on the second floor. The Hispanic Institute for Latin American and Iberian Cultures (Casa Hispanica) is located at 612 West 116th Street. A campus map of Columbia University is here.
Seminar Series Schedule: Foucault 13/13
Monday, September 14, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Lessons on the Will to Know (1970-1971)
James Faubion, Rice University
and Nancy Luxon, University of Minnesota
Maison Française
***
Monday, September 28, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Penal Theories and Institutions (1971-1972)
Etienne Balibar, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre & Columbia University
and François Ewald, Series Editor of Foucault’s Collège de France Lectures
Casa Hispánica
***
Monday, October 12, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Punitive Society (1972-1973)
Didier Fassin, Institute for Advanced Studies (Princeton) & EHESS,
Axel Honneth, University of Frankfurt & Columbia University, and
Nadia Urbinati, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Monday, October 26, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Psychiatric Power (1973-1974)
Linda Zerilli, University of Chicago,
Anna Lvovsky, Columbia University, and
Alondra Nelson, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Monday, November 16, 2015, 7:00 to 9:00pm
Abnormal (1974-1975)
Veena Das, Johns Hopkins University,
Pierre Rosanvallon, Collège de France, Paris, and
Emmanuelle Saada, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Monday, November 23, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
“Society must be defended” (1975-1976)
Ann Stoler, The New School,
Partha Chatterjee, Columbia University, and
Robert Gooding-Williams, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Monday, December 7, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Security, Territory, Population (1977-1978)
Seyla Benhabib, Yale University,
Jeremy Kessler, Columbia University, and
Adam Tooze, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Thursday, January 28, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Birth of Biopolitics (1978-1979)
Nancy Fraser, The New School
and Kendall Thomas, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Thursday, February 11, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Government of the Living (1979-1980)
Achille Mbembe, University of the Witwatersrand,
Daniele Lorenzini, Université Paris-Est Créteil, and
Jean Cohen, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Thursday, February 25, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Subjectivity and Truth (1980-1981)
Judith Butler, University of California Berkeley,
Katherine Franke, Columbia University, and
Stathis Gourgouris, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Thursday, March 10, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Hermeneutics of the Subject (1981-1982)
Homi Bhabha, Harvard University,
Paul Rabinow, University of California Berkeley, and
Lydia Liu, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Thursday, March 31, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Government of Self and Others (1982-1983)
Judith Revel, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre,
Sharon Marcus, Columbia University, and
John Rajchman, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Thursday, April 14, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Courage of Truth (1983-1984)
Frederic Gros, Sciences Po,
Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University, and
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Columbia University
Casa Hispánica
***
All sessions moderated by Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco
The 1st Latinx Philosophers Conference is an initiative of some Latin American PhD candidates in the Columbia Philosophy Department. We hope to initiate a tradition of annual conferences to serve the following ends. First, to foster the creation and development of a Latinx Philosophers Network in the United States. This network, in turn, will help us provide a space for camaraderie and collaborative work, as well as identify and pursue the common interests of Latinx Philosophers in the U.S. Second, to provide a space for discussing issues of particular relevance to Latinx from a philosophical perspective.
The conference will take place on April 29-30 and will be organized around two clusters of topics. The first day will be devoted to issues in Epistemology, Logic, Metaphysics and Philosophy of Science. The second day will focus on Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy, Philosophy of Race, and Latin American Philosophy. We are happy to announce that Otavio Bueno and Jorge Gracia will be our keynote speakers for each day, respectively.
We invite graduate students who identify as Latinx or who are interested in forming part of the Latino/a Philosophers Network to submit papers on any of the topics mentioned above. We encourage submissions by women. We also encourage submissions that discuss issues relevant to the Latinx experience.
Papers should not exceed 4000 words (or the equivalent of a 30-minute presentation). They should be prepared for blind review and sent as a PDF file to latinophilosophersnetwork@gmail.com. In a separate PDF attachment, please include your name, academic affiliation, email address, telephone number, paper title, and an abstract of no more than 250 words. Any questions can be directed to César Cabezas (cgc2125@columbia.edu), or Ignacio Ojea (ignacio.ojea@columbia.edu). Acceptances will be announced by March 15.
This event is supported by:
MAP (Minorities and Philosophy), and
The Center for Race, Philosophy and Social Justice at Columbia University
A panel discussion with Gayatri Spivak and invited guests
Event Location: Teatro, Italian Academy for Advanced Studies
This new release of Of Grammatology is a milestone in the history of an indispensable work of contemporary critical philosophy. In celebration, join us as we reflect on the importance of Jacques Derrida’s book with panelists:
Benjamin Conisbee Baer, Princeton University, Eduardo Cadava, Princeton University Mireille Calle-Gruber, Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, Avital Ronell, New York University, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Columbia University
Featuring a performance by pianist and Columbia Scholar, Yohann Ripert.
Moderated by Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University.
No registration required. Seating is limited. First come, first seated.
Book Signing to Follow Event
Sponsored by: Barnard Center for Translation Studies, Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought, Columbia Global Centers, Department of Philosophy at Barnard, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Heyman Center for the Humanities, Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, Institute of African Studies, Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Department of French and Romance Philology, Johns Hopkins Press, Maison Française, Office of the Dean of Humanities, and South Asia Institute.
A talk by Anne Simon, moderated by Eliza Zingesser
Zoopoetics aims to highlight the plurality of stylistic, linguistic and narrative tools used by writers to express the plurality of animal activities, affects and worlds, as well as the intricacies of the interactions between humans and animals. Such an approach helps to understand that all life forms are in a relationship of dependence with an archè (Husserl)—an origin, a reason, a refuge, a dwelling, the Earth— and that animals are more stylistic or rhetorical beings than we usually think of them as being. Evolution and biomorphic logics allow us to intuitively understand other species related to us, to share many of their emotions and expressions, and to be able to account for them through specific human means, such as evocative and figurative language. The lecture will show that perspectivism, metamorphosis and hybridity are universal patterns and experiences that literature embodies in different ways.
Anne Simon is a Research Director at the Centre National de la Recherche Française and a Member of the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris), where she leads the Project « Animots » ; an author of Trafics de Proust, 2016 and La rumeur des distances traversées, to be published in 2018. Her research focuses on disturbing relationships between philosophy and literature, and on zoopoetics.
Psychopathy is a mental disorder closely associated with marked emotional dysfunctions, limited capacity for moral judgments, recidivistic offending, and poor treatment outcome. Considering its peculiar characteristics, the status of psychopathy in the field of law raises several disputes. While current criminal law holds psychopaths fully responsible and punishable for their misbehavior, some scholars argue that psychopathy is a condition that may severely compromise an individual’s moral agency and capacity for rationality. As such, it should be included among the potential excusing or mitigating factors for criminal responsibility and punishment. This argument finds additional support in the body of studies from neurocriminology showing that people who suffer from psychopathy exhibit (often severe) reduced functioning in the socio-emotional brain regions that are now known to be significantly involved in moral decision-making and prosocial behavior. The insights into the neurobiological roots of psychopathy seem to challenge even more the perennial dilemmas that have occupied the minds of legal scholars and philosophers for many years: Are psychopaths “bad” or “mad” (or both)? And how should criminal law and the justice system deal with them? This seminar aims to examine these issues and explore other contentious arguments about the status of psychopathy in the field law.
Three leading experts in neurocriminology, law, and philosophy will discuss recent neuroscientific findings in psychopathy research. The speakers will consider how these findings might contribute to the reconsideration of the responsibility of psychopathic offenders and how criminal justice should optimally respond to individuals suffering from such a controversial disorder.
Speakers:
Stephen J. Morse; Ferdinand Wakeman Hubbell Professor of Law; Professor of Psychology and Law in Psychiatry; Associate Director, Center for Neuroscience & Society; University of Pennsylvania Law School
Adrian Raine; Richard Perry University Professor, University of Pennsylvania
Katrina L. Sifferd; Professor and Chair of Philosophy, Elmhurst College
Free and open to the public, but RSVP is required via Eventbrite. This event is part of the Seminars in Society and Neuroscience series.
Elliot Paul, assistant professor of philosophy, and Joan Snitzer, cochair and director of visual arts in the Department of Art History, come together to discuss the relationship between creative expression and appreciation in this installment of From the Faculty Lounge. Paul and Snitzer will explore creativity’s role in our happiness and moral choices, and how an artist’s ownership of their creativity compares to an audience’s influence.
Moderated by Provost Linda Bell
Space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please arrive early as this event will be filmed and doors will close promptly at 6:30 PM.
From the Faculty Lounge
What is Creativity?
Thursday, May 3, 2018
6:30 PM
Sulzberger Parlor, 3rd Floor Barnard Hall
For more information, visit barnard.edu/events. View previously recorded conversations here.
The paper follows and elaborates on a line of argument in my book The Confucian Political Imagination, which was published by Palgrave Macmillan this summer. I do not address the main argument of the book, but sum up a line of thought that has gradually taken form since I began to read Confucian texts. I explain what I learned about reading Confucianism from my teacher Tu Weiming, and why I could not follow the philosophical turn in American Confucian studies. I point to the importance of reading in an emphatic sense, and argue that the philosophical approaches to Confucian texts often leads to an impoverished reading of these texts. Then I provide my own suggestions towards a definition Confucian discourse. I briefly point to the historical reasons Confucian discourse is not philosophy, and finally I ask if all this really matters.
THE COLUMBIA SOCIETY FOR COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY
Welcomes:
Eske Møllgaard (University of Rhode Island)
With a response from:
Andrew Lambert (College of Staten Island, CUNY)
Speakers:
Amanda Pustilnik, Professor of Law, University of Maryland
Tor Wager, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder
Moderators:
Federica Coppola, Presidential Scholar in Society and Neuroscience, Columbia University
Lan Li, Presidential Scholar in Society and Neuroscience, Columbia University
We will provide additional information as soon as possible.
Free and open to the public, but RSVP is required via Eventbrite. This event is part of the Seminars in Society and Neuroscience series.