Lacan Today Conference

September 18-19 2026, Ghent University Belgium;

Lacan Today 2026

Welcome to Lacan Today Conference 2026

We are delighted to invite you to LACAN TODAY, a conference dedicated to the academic exploration of Jacques Lacan's work and its profound impact on the realms of clinical practice, philosophy, cultural studies, and interdisciplinary research.

What we will discuss:

  • The various ways in which the work of Jacques Lacan is used and discussed in academic disciplines such as psychology, psychiatry, philosophy, cultural studies, social work, literary critique, and film studies. Special interest will be given to interdisciplinary studies engaging with Lacanian psychoanalysis.
  • The qualitative, quantitative, and conceptual methodologies used in the study and application of Lacanian psychoanalysis
  • The use of Lacanian psychoanalysis in academic and cultural critique.
  • Academic and cultural critiques of Lacanian psychoanalysis.
  • The diverse ways Lacanian psychoanalysis is employed in clinical practice, including individual therapy and institutional settings.
Who Should Attend:

This conference is designed for scholars, practitioners, and researchers in the fields of clinical psychology, psychiatry, philosophy, humanities, critical studies, and interdisciplinary studies. It provides a unique platform for individuals interested in the intersection of psychoanalysis with other disciplines. An additional social networking event will be organized for PhD students.


Keynotes by
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    Jamieson Webster 
  •  Jamieson Webster is a psychoanalyst in New York. She teaches at the New School for Social Research and is on the board at Pulsion Institute. Her most recent book is “Disorganization and Sex” (Divided, 2022).
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    Stijn Vanheule 
  •  Stijn Vanheule is Professor of Psychoanalysis and Clinical psychological Assessment at Ghent University since 2006. He is head of the Centre for Lacanian Psychoanalysis at Ghent University. He is Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst, member of the New Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis and the World Association of Psychoanalysis
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    Isabel Millar
  • Isabel Millar is a philosopher and psychoanalytic theorist from London. Her first book, based on her doctoral thesis, The Psychoanalysis of Artificial Intelligence was published in 2021 in The Palgrave Lacan Series and has received acclaim from major figures in philosophy, psychoanalysis, film theory and contemporary art including Alenka Zupancic, Lorenzo Chiesa, Todd McGowan and Jake Chapman. She is currently writing her next book Patipolitics for Bloomsbury Philosophy.
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    Darian Leader 
  • Darian Leader is a renowned British psychoanalyst, known for his ability to make complex psychological topics accessible to a wide audience. With De Bezige Bij he previously published The New Black (2011), What Is Madness? (2012), and Strictly Bipolar (2013).
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    Derek Hook
  • Derek Hook is a Professor and Clinical Supervisor in Psychology at Duquesne University. He began his analytical training in London, at the Center for Freudian Analysis and Research. He is the author of 'Six Moments in Lacan' (2017), 'A Critical Psychology of the Postcolonial' (2011) and '(Post)apartheid Conditions' (2013). Along with Calum Neill, he co-edits the Palgrave Lacan Series, and along with Stijn Vanheule and Calum Neill he co-edits the landmark 'Reading Lacan's Ecrits' book series. In addition, he is also the co-editor of Lacan and Race (with Sheldon George). He maintains a YouTube channel including many lectures on Lacanian psychoanalysis.
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    Bracha Ettinger
  •  Bracha Ettinger is an Israeli-French artist, writer, psychoanalyst and philosopher based in France. Born in Mandatory Palestine, she lives and works in Paris. She is a feminist theorist and artist in contemporary New European Painting who invented the concepts of the matrixial space and matrixial gaze and related concepts around trauma, aesthetics and ethics. 
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