Foucault Madness?
Foucault Madness is a philosophy/theory collective of undergrads, graduate students, and professors, dedicated to reading and applying difficult scholarly texts in the fields of critical theory, gender, and poststructuralism to current events.
While the original intent was to look closely at the work of Foucault, we have branched out significantly in the three years we have been reading together. The themes we have been exploring, range from Wendy Brown’s critical political theory, Ernest Becker and Judith Butler’s post-Freudian analysis, and Norman Brown’s insights into the psychodynamics of money.
The main purpose of the group is to bring a diversity of thinkers together, from various disciplines and levels of education, to make sure that the theories of important scholars are given life, made to be relevant.
We meet twice a month in North County, San Diego. If you are interested in attending, please feel free to contact us at foucault.madness@gmail.com
The Foucault Madness 2015 Conference Committee
Jairo Leon graduated with a B.A. in Literature & Writing from CSU San Marcos. He is co-founder of the Foucault Madness Collective, and a member of the San Diego Dream Team. Reckoning with critical theory and advancing immigrant rights are his twin passions. Jairo also enjoys the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke and Xavier Villaurrutia.
Richard H. Hannon Jr. currently teaches English Composition at Palomar College. Co-founder of the Foucault Madness Collective, Richard Hannon spends his time playing in bands, reading critical theory, and mentoring current and former students. His scholarly interests include the study of: ritual violence, moshpits, scapegoating, gender, pscycho-geography, cyberspace, and heterotopias. His favorite writers include Norman O. Brown, Herbert Marcuse, Michel Foucault, Wendy Brown, and Philip Rieff.
April Cunningham is the Instruction/Information Literacy Librarian at Palomar College. She works with students as they build their habits of thinking critically about information. She’s also a drummer. Her interest in critical theory led her to join the Foucault Madness reading group.
Katlin Sweeney is a best-selling author and freelance writer. Her work mainly focuses on how society shapes the modern, coming-of-age woman, the experiences that unite and divide people, as well as miscellaneous aspects of women’s rights. In addition to writing and her position as the Editor-in-Chief of The Cougar Chronicle, Katlin is a lecturer as well. She has been asked to speak in various classrooms about how writers can prosper in the digital era, the writing process, and how to find success as a published writer.
Drea Aduna is a Literature & Writing student from CSU San Marcos. Her desire to study Comparative Literature in graduate school had pushed her to reestablish herself in critical theory. She is also President of Kamalayan Alliance, an organization that strives to build a community to understand, acknowledge, and educate others of our Pilipin@-American ancestry by being inclusive of all peoples from different backgrounds. She’s also a vocalist; her favorite genre of vocal music being classical chamber music.
Foucault Madness Conference 2015 
This is so cool. Wish I was closer to join in. I’m impressed that you are doing this. I assume the title comes from Madness and Civilization? Do you have members from special education or disailities studies? I would argue that no field is more relavant (not greater, just no less). Again, glad you are doing this.
Hi Don,
Thank you for your support! There were no guarantees as this conference was launched, but once initiated it attracted wide support and advocates. We are very grateful. Yes, you’re right about the title namesake. We’ve personally reached out to multiple scholars working within disability studies (especially in UCSD), and hope they’re able to take part. Perhaps you can join us next year!
All the best,
Foucault Madness Collective