Unfolding the Deleuze Seminars: Experimental Pedagogy, Philosophy, and Politics Inside Deleuze's Classroom (with Charles J. Stivale)

This episode of Acid Horizon explores the radical pedagogy and intellectual laboratory of Gilles Deleuze's university seminars from 1970 to 1987, as detailed in Charles J. Stivale's new book, *Unfolding the Deleuze Seminars*. Host Craig welcomes back Stivale and Dr. Bob Langan to unpack the chaotic, intimate, and deeply experiential nature of Deleuze’s classroom at Vincennes and later Saint-Denis, where packed rooms, student-driven interventions, and philosophical emotion were central. The discussion reveals how Deleuze treated philosophy not as abstract theory but as a lived, affective practice—demanding that students 'feel' ideas, not just understand them. Through vivid anecdotes, including student debates over classroom space, plagiarism accusations, and the unexpected expertise of a crystallographer, the episode illustrates Deleuze’s experimental, non-hierarchical teaching model. The seminar transcripts are shown to be richer and more expansive than the published books, offering crucial context and depth—especially in works like *Spinoza: The Velocities of Thought* and the *Cinema* series. Stivale emphasizes the book’s role as both a concordance and a legacy project, preserving an unwritten history of Deleuze’s teaching that remains vital for future scholars and readers.