In 1980, Jodie Foster took a break from Hollywood to study African-American literature at Yale University. In 1997, Yale conferred her an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree for her works in the fields of acting and performance.

1981, Jodie Foster also became a full-time student at Yale. At Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, Jodie Foster wrote her thesis on Toni Morrison under the guidance of Henry Louis Gates Jr. and graduated magna cum laude in 1985.

Jodie Foster/ Image Credits: Festival de Cannes
Jodie Foster returned to Yale in 1993 to address the graduating class. In 2018, Jodie Foster was awarded the Yale Undergraduate Lifetime Achievement Award. Foster made her feature film debut in Napoleon and Samantha (1972).

Jodie Foster voiced a character in an episode of Frasier in 1996 and an episode of The X-Files in early 1997. Jodie Foster starred alongside Sterling Brown in the dystopian film Hotel Artemis (2018). 

In 2015, Jodie Foster received the Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award at the Athena Film Festival. Jodie Foster made her directorial film debut with Little Man Tate (1991).