Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 14, 2005|Volume 34, Number 7

Event honors Jacques Derrida,
originator of 'deconstruction'

A French philosopher who established a school of thought that influenced many far-flung fields will be commemorated in the conference "Jacques Derrida at Yale," being held on campus Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14 and 15.

Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) originated the school of deconstruction, a new way of analyzing texts to reveal their hidden meanings. This strategy has been applied to such fields as linguistics, philosophy, law, the social sciences and architecture. Derrida introduced the deconstructive approach in three books published in 1967 -- "Speech and Phenomena," "Of Grammatology" and "Writing and Difference." He was on the faculty of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris 1965-1984, but spent much of his time in the United States, where he taught at such universities as Yale, Johns Hopkins and the University of California at Irvine.

The organizers of the Yale conference describe Derrida as "an indefatigable and generous scholar whose work contains so many reflections on hospitality, the stranger and friendship. ... A gracious recipient of hospitality, he was always an engaged teacher who made room for countless students. His yearly visits to Yale continued for more than a decade and coincided with a new orientation in the humanities in which he was a prominent figure."

The conference will open on Friday with welcoming remarks by Catherine Labio, associate professor of comparative literature and French; David Quint, the George M. Bodman Professor of English, and professor and chair of the Department of Comparative Literature; and Haun Saussy, professor of comparative literature and East Asian language and literature.

There will be panel discussions focusing on various aspects of Derrida's work 9:45 a.m.-5:20 p.m. on Friday and 9:45-11:35 a.m. on Saturday, and a roundtable discussion 11:35 a.m.-12:45 p.m. on Saturday. These events will take place in the Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall St.

Also highlighting the conference will be a screening of the biographical documentary "Derrida" at 9 p.m. on Friday in Rm. 102 of Linsly-Chittenden Hall, and a reception at 6 p.m. on Friday at Labyrinth Books, 290 York St.

All the events are free and open to the public.

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Yale participating in human genome initiative

Former World Fellows will return to campus for forum

Literary theorist wins Israel's EMET Prize for contributions

'Aesthetics & Politics' in Pakistan to be explored

Experts to address global warming at conference

Treasures from Yale's Collections

Panel to focus on debate over career vs. motherhood

Event honors Jacques Derrida, originator of 'deconstruction'

Chemistry department symposium to celebrate opening of building

Events pay tribute to former University printer Greer Allen

Yale Books in Brief

Edward Kaplan has been designated as an INFORMS fellow