Colloquium on Violence and Religion
The Colloquium on Violence & Religion welcomes both individual paper proposals and panel proposals addressed to the following two topics:
- responses, especially from the vantage of mimetic theory, to the recent book--The Difference Nothing Makes: Creation, Christ, Contemplation (University of Notre Dame Press, 2023), by Brian Robinette. Dr. Robinette will be present to initiate a conversation based on these responses.
- proposals that deal with the intersection of mimetic theory, democracy, and justice. Such proposals are welcome to interrogate both positive and negative forms of solidarity, as well as discussions of contemporary movements that seem to threaten democratic norms.
- proposals that discuss how best to introduce mimetic theory into the classroom. Given the growing popularity of Girard’s thought and the proliferation of podcasts, videos, and popular introductions to mimetic theory, this prompt encourages proposals that share practices or theories on introducing mimetic theory in university or other education settings.
The Colloquium on Violence and Religion is an international association of scholars founded in 1990. It is dedicated to the exploration, criticism, and development of René Girard’s mimetic model of the relationship between violence and religion in the genesis and maintenance of culture. In promoting research in mimetic theory, COVandR welcomes scholars and others from diverse fields and theoretical orientations who are interested in the foundational role of imitation in individual human lives and cultures. In addition to gathering at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, the Colloquium meets each summer, alternating between North American and European venues. COVandR’s publications include a website(http://violenceandreligion.com), a book series, Studies in Violence, Mimesis, and Culture, published by Michigan State University Press, the journal Contagion and a biannual newsletter, Bulletin of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion.
| Chair | Dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea King | kingc2@sacredheart.edu | - | View |