The Foucault Century

“What, do you imagine that I would take so much trouble and so much pleasure in writing, do you think that I would keep so persistently to my task, if I were not preparing—with a rather shaky hand—a labyrinth into which I can venture, in which I can move my discourse, opening up underground passages, forcing it to go far from itself, finding overhangs that reduce and deform its itinerary, in which I can lose myself and appear at last to eyes that I will never have to meet again? I am no doubt not the only one who writes in order to have no face.”

Michel Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge

Michel Foucault’s influence on contemporary thought is unmatched by any other twentieth-century intellectual. Reputed to be the most widely cited scholar in history, his work has provided a foundational vocabulary in a variety of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences. He remains one of the most widely taught figures in institutions of higher education worldwide. Even where Foucault’s name is no longer invoked, the shaping influence of his corpus has been transformative—even revolutionary.

2026 marks the centennial of Foucault’s birth and the 50-year anniversary of the publication of his landmark History of Sexuality, Vol. 1. The Foucault Century, a symposium at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (September 24–25, 2026), offers a renewed assessment of Foucault’s thought. 

Forty years after his death, our understanding of Foucault’s scholarship has been enriched and transformed by a wealth of groundbreaking posthumous publications. These include Foucault’s thirteen courses at the Collège de France, lectures and seminars at other institutions around the world from the 1960s to the 1980s, and the fourth volume of History of Sexuality—Confessions of the Flesh. More material is coming out all the time, with Foucault’s 1966–1967 public lectures at the University of Tunis now in press.

The Foucault Century considers the manifold implications of this expanding corpus. And it takes as its premise that the Foucault we already know—or think we know—may need to be reconsidered. What has sometimes been called the “textbook image of Foucault” has become an obstacle to fully grasping the depth, complexity, and tensions of his thought. 

The Foucault Century will bring together an international group of Foucault specialists to consider a range of problems in the contemporary assessment of Foucault: What questions are being left unasked in the default interpretation of Foucault that has been passed down? What controversies remain unresolved? Which of Foucault’s many voices and guises can be brought into productive conversation with our contemporary intellectual, political, and cultural controversies? And which need to be criticized or dismantled? Which Foucaults have been remembered? And which have been forgotten and may need to be brought to light again?

Sponsors

The Boardman Fund of the Department of Religious Studies 
Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Centre Michel Foucault
Greater Philadelphia Philosophy Consortium 
University Research Foundation, University of Pennsylvania
Paideia Program, University of Pennsylvania

Registration

Register for each day separately.

Register: Sept 24

Register: Sept 25

Schedule

September 24

2:00-2:30 - Welcome
2:30-4:00 - Session 1
4:00-4:15 - Break
4:15-6:00 - Screening
6:00-7:00 - Catered dinner
7:00-8:00 - Public lecture

September 25

10:00-11:30 - Session 2
11:30-1:00 - Catered Lunch and Viewing of Exhibit
1:00-2:30 - Session 3
2:30-2:45 - Break
2:45-4:15 - Session 4
4:15-5:00 - Wrap-up discussion

Speakers

Sabeen Ahmed (Swarthmore College)
Amy Allen (Pennsylvania State University)
Verena Erlenbusch-Anderson (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Niki Kasumi Clements (Rice University)
Penelope Deutscher (Northwestern University)
David Halperin (University of Michigan) 
Amy Hollywood (Harvard University)
Daniele Lorenzini (University of Pennsylvania)
Donovan Schaefer (University of Pennsylvania)

Featured image: Gerard Fromanger, Michel Foucault, 1976