Call for Papers
Colloquium on Violence and Religion
June 2-5, 2004
Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico
The Colloquium on Violence and Religion (COV&R) is an organization whose object is:
To explore, criticize, and develop the mimetic model of the relationship between violence and religion in the genesis and maintenance of culture. The Colloquium will be concerned with questions of both research and application. Scholars from various fields and diverse theoretical orientations will be encouraged to participate both in the conferences and the publications sponsored by the Colloquium, but the focus of activity will be the relevance of the mimetic model for the study of religion.
During the week of June 2-5, 2004, the Colloquium’s annual meeting will take place at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico. The focus of the meeting will be “Nature, Human Nature, and the Mimetic Theory.” The theme of the meeting is summarized as follows:
The mimetic scapegoat theory offers groundbreaking insights toward understanding human violence and its origin in rivalrous desire. It presents a view of the human condition that implies a concept of human nature, but proponents of the mimetic theory have yet to clarify how this understanding of human nature might fit into a total economy of the natural world. Nor have they adequately explored those aspects of religion for which nature itself is a manifestation of the sacred.
The primary object of this conference is to address these two lacunae, both from the standpoint of the mimetic scapegoat theory and in relation to the theory. The theme of this conference suggests the following as possible lines of inquiry (among others):
∙How should humans view their place within the totality of nature or, in biblical terms, within creation?
∙What difference does it make to understand “nature” as “creation”?
∙What are our human responsibilities now, especially given the fact that in many respects we humans, for so long subject to the natural world, are now beginning to overwhelm the natural environment?
∙Do literary depictions of nature (e.g. as either “sacred” or “monstrous”) reflect our destructiveness toward nature?
∙Has the natural environment itself become the scapegoat for modern culture?
∙How might mimetic theory illuminate more nature-centered religions (e.g. Native American, Japanese Shinto, etc.) or vice versa?
∙Do Christian and Jewish theology, philosophy, and preconceptions need to be corrected or modified by other traditions of thought?
∙How should Christian theology relate to evolutionary theory?
The Colloquium on Violence and Religion has established a continuing project that will be addressed in this and future conferences: the challenge of peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians. There will be a special session during COV&R 2004 to work on this issue. Papers on how to apply the mimetic theory in that context are sought for this discussion.
Any and all interested individuals are invited to submit papers and/or paper proposals (250 - 500 words) by November 30, 2003 via email attachments (in Microsoft Word format) to Britton Johnston of the program committee at papers@covr2004.org . For further information about René Girard or the mimetic theory, see this website: http://theol.uibk.ac.at/cover/ .
The conference is seeking papers that apply or develop the mimetic theory of René Girard with respect to the relationship of human culture to matter, the body, and/or the natural world. Papers that present tightly argued theses are less important for the purposes of this conference than papers that open up opportunities for creative dialogue and exploration.
Papers to be presented in plenary meetings should be in a distributable draft form by April 1, 2004. Advance registrants will receive copies by May 1.
For further information about the conference, visit the conference web page: www.covr2004.org , or contact Britton Johnston, conference organizer, at:
Westminster Presbyterian Church
841 W. Manhattan Ave.
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Ph.: 505-983-8939