On January 27th at 7pm, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and Brooklyn Public Library will co-present A Night of Philosophy and Ideas, the sunset-to-sunrise event bringing philosophers, musicians, artists, and authors from around the world together with the Brooklyn and Greater New York community through a series of conversations and performances from 7pm to 7am at the historic Central Library at Grand Army Plaza.
Navigage the night by following of our itineraries, which will suit the anguished, the lovestruck, and everyone in between. (Plus, consult our tips to make the most of your experience.)
If you want to relive May 1968...
IS THERE SUCH A THING AS FRENCH THEORY?
Isabelle Alfandary
Languages & Literature Division | 8:00PM
THE GLOBAL 1960S
Mary Nolan
Society, Sciences & Technology Division | 8:30PM
Pass through the Info Commons Lab and catch some of the silent shorts on the events of May '68 in Paris
SCREENING OF CINÉTRACTS
Silent shorts on the events of May '68 in Paris, by a group of uncredited filmmakers (including Chris Marker, Alain Resnais and Jean-Luc Godard.) 1968, 65 min
Info Commons Lab | 8:00PM to 9:05PM
LESZEK KOŁAKOWSKI AND MARCH 1968 IN POLAND
Katarzyna Kasia
Society, Sciences & Technology Division | 9:30PM
RESISTANCE REVIVAL CHORUS
Grand Lobby | 12:00AM
BLACK LIGHT/BLACK LIFE: MILES, MARTIN, MARTYRS AND THE 68’ MOMENT
Kazembe Balagun
Art & Music | 12:30AM
MAY '68 AT 50: CAN SOCIOLOGISTS DEAL WITH BIG EVENTS?
Jean-Louis Fabiani
History, Biography, Religion Division | 1:00AM
If you’re bent on changing the world…
PROTESTING LANGUAGE
Amie L. Thomasson
History, Biography, Religion Division | 9:00PM
HEGELIAN RESONANCES IN AFRICAN DIASPORIC LITERARY STUDY: QUESTIONS ON PHILOSOPHICAL METHOD AND BLACK RADICALISM
Jeremy Glick
Langages & Literature Division | 1ST FL | 9:30 PM
If you’re a real revolutionary, you probably have lots of energy to spare. Stop by the Dweck Auditorium to hear great music at the National Sawdust Salon 10-11 PM.
BETTER LIVING THROUGH BUDDHISM
Robert Wright; presented in partnership with The New York Times’ philosophy series “The Stone”
Society, Sciences & Technology Division | 2ND FL | 11 PM
SACRED VS. BANNED BOOKS OF THE WORLD
Nomi Naeem
Info Commons Room 7 | 1:00AM to 2:00AM
Even heros need to eat: grab a 2AM snack in the Youth Wing
HOW TO SLEEP THROUGH THE REVOLUTION: LACAN’S LAMELLA
Marcus Coelen, Jamieson Webster
Languages & Literature Division | 5:00AM
If 2018 is (already) not your year…
If you’re really grappling with existential anguish, you’ll probably arrive on the later side, let’s be honest.
BETTER LIVING THROUGH STOICISM
Massimo Pigliucci
Presented in partnership with The New York Times' "The Stone"
History, Biography, Religion Division | 12:30AM
DILEMMA SERIES: HOW TO DEAL
Gregory Salmieri
Info Commons Room 4 | 1:00AM
ANXIETY, ANXIETY, ANXIETY!
Jamieson Webster
Society, Sciences & Technology Division | 2:30AM
Coffee break in the Youth Wing. It’s free, and will be served all night.
CAN A HUMAN HAVE A MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH A HUMANOID ROBOT?
Aleksandra Przegalińska
Society, Sciences & Technology Division | 4:00AM
If you came for everything but philosophy…
MUSICAL IMPROVISATION INSPIRED BY GILLES DELEUZE'S DIFFERENCE AND REPETITION
Yacine Boularès, Can Olgun
Dweck Auditorium | 9:30PM
NATIONAL SAWDUST SALON
Matthew Haimovitz
Dweck Auditorium | 10:30PM
PERFORMANCE: CIRCUS IMPROMPTUS
Compagnie XY
A contemporary circus collective based in France, comprised of top acrobats, Compagnie XY will perform mini-happenings, mixing technical movement with brilliant artistry.
Grand Lobby | 11:30PM
YOGA & PHILOSOPHY
Grand Lobby | 2:30AM
PERFORMANCE: IN THE SOLITUDE OF THE COTTON FIELDS, BY BERNARD-MARIE KOLTÈS
With Dee Beasnael and Oceana James. Dir. Roland Auzet
History, Biography, Religion Division | 3:00AM to 4:15AM
If you’re all about love…
CREATURELY LOVE
Dominic Pettman
Art & Music | 8:00PM
WHAT IS HEDONISM?
Katja Maria Vogt
History, Biography, Religion Division | 11:00PM
REVOLUTION AS AN ACT OF LOVE: THE TRANSFORMATION OF MORAL VISION
Jay L. Garfield
Art & Music | 1:00AM
PERFORMANCE: COLLECTION OF DREAMS
Concept by Lancelot Hamelin in collaboration with Duncan Evennou. Performance by Dechen Karl Thurman. Dreams collected by Lancelot Hamelin from several cities including Brooklyn will be read out loud and the public will be able to share their own.
Info Commons Room 7 | 2:00AM
Grab a cup of free coffee in the Youth Wing and then catch a musical performance by Scott Matthew at 2 AM in the Grand Lobby.
PERFORMANCE: IMPROMPTUS
Compagnie XY
A contemporary circus collective based in France, comprised of top acrobats, Compagnie XY will perform mini-happenings, mixing technical movement with brilliant artistry.
Grand Lobby | 4:30AM
SYMPOSIUM OF LOVE
Staged by Mériam Korichi. 25 centuries after Plato’s Symposium, 50 years after the Love Revolution of the 1960’s, eight philosophers, one artist and traditional Greek musicians will reenact a Symposion on Love at the end of the Night.
Grand Lobby | 5:00AM to 6:00AM
If you’re a hopeless francophile…
CONSENT AND REFUSAL OF CONSENT
Geneviève Fraisse
History, Biography, Religion Division | 8:30PM
POWER TO THE IMAGINATION: TACKLING DEMOCRATIC ENTROPY
Cynthia Fleury
Art & Music | 9:00PM
FROM INFORMED TO NEGOTIATED CONSENT: STAKES AROUND MEDICAL CARE
Jean-Godefroy Bidima
Art & Music | 9:30PM
ENRICHMENT, COLLECTION, PROFIT
Arnaud Esquerre
Languages & Literature Division | 12:30AM
WE ARE THE WEAVERS
Abdennour Bidar
Society, Sciences & Technology Division | 1:30AM
Catch the D of Desire in the Screening of GILLES DELEUZE FROM A TO Z:
SCREENING: GILLES DELEUZE FROM A TO Z
Gilles Deleuze from A to Z is a French television program produced by Pierre-André Boutang in 1988–1989, consisting of an eight-hour series of interviews between Gilles Deleuze and Claire Parnet. prod. Pierre-André Boutang, 1996, 8 hr.
Info Commons Lab | 9:30PM to 5:30AM
If you’re a feminist...
BETTER LIVING THROUGH FEMINISM
Linda Martín Alcoff
Presented in partnership with The New York Times' "The Stone"
Society, Sciences & Technology Division | 8:00PM
Check out the guides to overthrowing the patriarchy AHEM philosophy books at the Albertine pop-up stand in the Grand Lobby.
HOW TO THINK FEMINISM: CONCEPTS & HISTORICITY
Geneviève Fraisse
Languages & Literature Division | 10:00PM
DILEMMA SERIES: DRAWING THE LINE
Joanna Smolenski
Info Commons Room 5 | 10:30PM
ANARCHAFEMINISM
Chiara Bottici
History, Biography, Religion Division | 11:30PM
Midnight power snack in the Youth Wing.
DILEMMA SERIES: DEVIANT DESIRES
Skye Cleary
Info Commons Room 4 | 2:00AM
If you’re an early-bird jock-losopher...
LAUGHTER, IMAGE AND PHILOSOPHY
Jul
Languages & Literature Division | 4:00AM
BETTER LIVING THROUGH SOCCER
Simon Critchley
Presented in partnership with The New York Times' "The Stone"
Languages & Literature Division | 4:30AM
BREAKFAST COURTESY OF COLSON PATISSERIE
Grand Lobby | 5:00AM
And now you’re ready for your morning jog in Prospect Park!
If you wonder what the future holds...
SAVING THE MEDIA
Julia Cagé
History, Biography, Religion Division | 8:00PM
SONIC FENCES IN PUBLIC SPACES
Juliette Volcler
Dweck Auditorium | 9:00PM
Eat now—the apocalypse could be just around the corner. Snacks are in the Youth Wing.
THE CARBON COPY LIBERATION FRONT AND THE MARCH 2026 COUNTER-ATTACK
Yves Citton
Society, Sciences & Technology Division | 11:30PM
Turns out hacktivists may be able to save our planet from environmental demise. Drink to that (in the Youth Wing).
ALL IN YOUR HEAD: STANISLAW LEM'S 'THE FUTUROLOGICAL CONGRESS'
Ezra Glinter
Society, Sciences & Technology Division | 3:00AM
TECHNO-SCIENCE & THE HUMAN CONDITION
Raphaël Liogier
Languages & Literature Division | 3:30AM
If you’re never quite sure if you're dreaming or awake…
ARE WE DONE WITH PSYCHOANALYSIS?
Isabelle Alfandary
Society, Sciences & Technology Division | 10:00PM
VIRTUAL REALITY: PLANET ∞
Planet ∞, a dystopian tale set in the near future, Nature has turned wild and invaded again Planet Earth. You will no longer look at our world, animal and plants, in the same way. Dir. by artist and filmmaker Momoko Seto, 2017, 7min
Trustees Room | 8:00PM to 1:00AM
Quick power nap (for research).
HOMO NARRANS: THE ONE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS AS SECRET CODE TO NARRATIVE HUMANITY
Lionel Ruffel
History, Biography, Religion Division | 10:30PM
RESISTANCE REVIVAL CHORUS
Grand Lobby | 12:00AM
ALL IN YOUR HEAD: STANISLAW LEM'S 'THE FUTUROLOGICAL CONGRESS'
Ezra Glinter
Society, Sciences & Technology Division | 3:00AM
PERFORMANCE: COLLECTION OF DREAMS
Concept by Lancelot Hamelin in collaboration with Duncan Evennou. Performance by Dechen Karl Thurman. Dreams collected by Lancelot Hamelin from several cities including Brooklyn will be read out loud and the public will be able to share their own.
Info Commons Room 7 | 2:00AM
SCREENING: IMAGINATION AT WORK, 7 SHORT FILMS BY VISUAL ARTISTS
Picasso Land and Animal glisse, dir. Bertrand Dezoteux; The Rings, and Runes/frise dir. Jonathan Martin; Letre, dir. Benoit Maire & Raphael Pfeiffer; Winter is Coming, dir. Lola Gonzàlez and Animate V, dir. Simon Dybbroe Molle, 120 min
Dweck Auditorium | 3:30AM
