Past Conferences
The Annual Conference of the Colloquium on Violence & Religion (COV&R) and 6th Annual Conference of the Australian Girard Seminar (2016, Melbourne): “Violence in the Name of Religion…”
The 6th AGS conference conference was held in conjunction with annual international meeting of the Colloquium on Violence & Religion. The Australian Girard Seminar (AGS) was privileged to host the international association of scholars interested in mimetic theory.
The conference was held on Wednesday 13 – Sunday 17 July 2016 at
The topic of the conference addressed one of the most pressing issues of our time: the outbreak of extremist violence and terrorism, done in the name of religion. The conference analysed the link made between religion and violence, and explored contemporary topics of great significance, such as Islamist terrorism and radicalization in its various political, economic, religious, military and technological dimensions. The conference made a critical contribution to discussing and analysing the pressing issue of religious violence. The conference brought together the insights of the French-Catholic theorist, René Girard (one of the premier theorists of violence in the 20th century), with the latest scholarship on religion and violence, particularly in relation to extremist violence.
The conference included academics, professionals, religious practitioners, military, police, and anyone interested in engaging this topic in respectful dialogue.
We had an excellent range of internationally acclaimed speakers who presented at the conference:
- Professor Asma Afsaruddin (Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Indiana University, USA);
- Professor Anne Aly (Professorial Research Fellow, Edith Cowan University, and author of Terrorism and Global Security);
- Rev. Dr. Sarah Bachelard (Australian Catholic University, Canberra, and the author of Experiencing God in a Time of Crisis and Resurrection and Moral Imagination)
- Professor Greg Barton (Chair in Global Islamic Politics, Deakin University, Melbourne);
- Rev. Professor Frank Brennan SJ (Professor of Law, Australian Catholic University and Charles Sturt University);
- Associate Professor Kathleen Butler (Associate Professor in Anthropology and Sociology, University of Newcastle);
- Professor William T. Cavanaugh (Professor of Catholic Studies and Director of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology, De Paul University and author of The Myth of Religious Violence);
- Professor Jean-Pierre Dupuy (Professor of Social and Political Philosophy at the École Polytechnique, Paris, and Professor of French and Professor of Political Science at Stanford University);
- Dr Chris Fleming (Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Western Sydney University, NSW);
- Most Rev Dr Philip Freier (Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne/Primate of The Anglican Church of Australia);
- Professor Wolfgang Palaver (Dean, Faculty of Theology, the University of Innsbruck); and
- Ms Naomi Wolfe (Aboriginal Academic and Lecturer in the National School of Arts, Australian Catholic University).
A volume was subsequently published from the conference entitled “Does Religion Cause Violence? Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Violence and Religion in the Modern World.”
We were very grateful for the sponsorship of Imitatio, the Raven Foundation, Centre for Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University, and Australian Catholic University to make this conference possible.
5th annual Australian Girard Seminar (AGS) Conference (Sydney, 2015): “War, Apocalypse and Peace: In the Light of the 100th Anniversary of Gallipoli”
This conference marked the 100th anniversary of World War I. It was held on 30th-31st January 2015 at St Paul’s College, the University of Sydney.
Reflecting on the “War to end all Wars”, this conference explored why humans continue to engage in war and what are the prospects for peace, or its opposite, apocalypse. An area of interest for this conference was the Australian history of war and Australian ways of memorialising and mythologising war, especially in relation to Gallipoli and the ANZACs.
The conference was grounded in the work of French philosopher, René Girard. Girard’s most recent work, Battling to the End, provides pointed analysis and warnings about the nature and extent of war.
Keynote Speakers included:
Prof. Sandor Goodhart, Professor of English and Jewish Studies at Purdue University, and author of Sacrificing Commentary: Reading The End of Literature and The Prophetic Law. Prof. Goodhart gave a public lecture on ‘The War to End All Wars’: Mimetic Theory and ‘Mounting to the Extremes’ in a Time of Disaster. Based on the French philosopher, René Girard’s “Battling to the End”, Prof. Goodhart examined how war is in some real sense over, that it has become in effect “endless” and as a result it is no longer possible to make the clear distinctions between war and non-war.
Rev. Prof. John A. Moses, Professorial Associate in History, Charles Sturt University – “ANZAC Day: Australia’s National Myth of Sacrifice”.
Assoc. Prof. Douglas Newton, University of Western Sydney – “Australia in World War I: An Introduction”.
4th annual AGS conference (2014, Melbourne): “Crisis and Its Management: Leadership and Relationship in Organisations and Communities”
The 4th annual conference of the Australian Girard Seminar was hosted at St Patrick’s Campus (Melbourne), Australian Catholic University, on 17th-18th January 2014. The topic of the conference was “Crisis and Its Management: Leadership and Relationship in Organisations and Communities”, with keynote speakers, Assoc. Prof. Jennifer George (Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne) and Rev. Prof. Józef Niewiadomski (University of Innsbruck and visiting fellow, ACU). 46 people were registered for the conference. On the Friday evening of the conference, the collection of essays, “Violence, Desire, and the Sacred, Volume 2: René Girard and Sacrifice in Life, Love and Literature” (edited by Scott Cowdell, Chris Fleming and Joel Hodge, published by Bloomsbury, ) was launched by Right Rev’d Dr Stephen Pickard, Executive Director of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture (http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/violence-desire-and-the-sacred-volume-2-9781623561963/). Following the launch, there was a public lecture, “Risky Business: Mimetic Theory, Executive Envy and Corporate Competitiveness”, by Assoc. Prof. Jenny George. Both events were well attended, with over 65 people. The feedback from the conference was very positive. Many thanks to the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, Australian Catholic University, for supporting the conference, especially for it to be hosted at ACU.
The keynote speakers for the conference were:
– Associate Professor Jennifer George, Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne
– Rev. Professor Józef Niewiadomski, Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Innsbruck – “Resident Aliens? The Role of Christian and of the Church in managing and transforming mimetic crisis”.
Title for Assoc. Prof. George’s Public Lecture: “Risky Business: Mimetic Theory, Executive Envy and Corporate Competitiveness”, 17th January 2014, 7.30pm.
Description: Have you ever wondered why CEOs are paid so much? Or why organisations develop so much internal bureaucracy? Business theorists have found some of these questions difficult to answer using purely economic or rational arguments. A Girardian analysis of aspects of the business world is a new lens that sheds light on these difficult issues. This talk will discuss the elevation of the CEO, the use of organisational hierarchy to curb mimetic rivalry, the use of scapegoats and the co-option of mimetic desire by corporations.
The Conference Program is available here: Program for Conference.
The Conference Flyer is available here: Conference flyer.
3rd Annual AGS Conference (2013, Sydney): “Mimesis, Movies and Media”
University of Western Sydney, Friday 18 and Saturday 19 January, 2013
Following a promising inaugural conference at St Paul’s College, The University of Sydney, in January 2011, and a very successful second conference at St Mary’s College, The University of Melbourne, in January 2012, the third annual conference of the Australian Girard Seminar was held on the Parramatta Campus of the University of Western Sydney (UWS) this January, again on the Friday-Saturday before the Australia Day long weekend.
For our first two years we were very grateful to receive support from Imitatio (http://www.imitatio.org) to run our conferences, and this year we attracted sponsorship from the Writing and Society Research Centre at UWS, through Chris Fleming (AGS Vice-President). Thanks to Suzanne Gapps from that Centre, we had the benefit of online registration, help with accommodation on campus and nearby, and support on the ground.
This year’s theme was ‘Mimesis, Movies and Media’, and our invited international guest was the Canadian Girardian philosopher Paul Dumouchel, currently Professor in the Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan. As in previous years our invited leader in the field gave a public lecture on the Friday night, in this case entitled ‘Mirrors of Nature: Artificial Agents in Real Life and Virtual Worlds’. Earlier in the day, however, a group of scholars from the Australian Girard Seminar working on the mimetic theory joined with Paul for a discussion of his recent published work, followed by a lunch at Rydges Hotel, Parramatta. After mid-afternoon registration, the conference began with Scott Cowdell giving the introductory ‘Girard 101’ lecture (to help bring newcomers up to speed on the mimetic theory). During drinks – and before a lively and enjoyable conference dinner in the modish Boilerhouse Restaurant at UWS – Professor Anthony Kelly CSsR launched our first publication, Violence, Desire and the Sacred: Girard’s Mimetic Theory Across the Disciplines, edited by Scott Cowdell, Chris Fleming and Joel Hodge (London and New York: Continuum, 2012). With over 40 present at the launch on a record hot day, Professor Kelly spoke about the twin challenges of an inter-disciplinary approach, which the books champions, and the journey of “conversion,” with which Girard is greatly concerned. Copies of Joel Hodge’s new book Resisting Violence and Victimisation: Christian Faith and Solidarity in East Timor (London: Ashgate, 2012) were also for sale, and both titles sold out. Convivial drinks at Rydges Hotel after the public lecture ended a very pleasant evening.
Saturday was devoted to members’ papers, mostly on films and television series, including two papers on The Dark Knight, one on the serial killer Dexter, another on Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm, and one on the increasingly anti-romantic films of Woody Allen. Saturday’s stand-out presentation, however, was from the award-winning Australian journalist-turned-academic Emma Jane, of the University of New South Wales, with an entertaining yet quite searching keynote address on the scapegoating of cheerleaders (who emerge as a class of pharmakoi). After a short business meeting at which potential future projects, conference themes and conference locations were discussed, proceedings concluded mid-afternoon.
A highlight of the conference was our announcement that a contract has been offered by Continuum for Volume 2 of Violence, Desire and the Sacred, which we have agreed to subtitle René Girard and Sacrifice in Life, Love and Literature. This will be based on (but not limited to) proceedings of our 2012 conference, as Volume 1 largely comprised our inaugural 2011 conference papers. We also shared the news that we had been approached by a scholarly publisher concerning proceedings of this 2013 conference, with an interest in something on Girard and film. Prof Dumouchel suggested that we consider beginning a series, and since the conference we have begun conversations to that effect with Continuum. We were also delighted to hear that our friends at Imitatio wish to continue supporting our ventures and have offered to underwrite professional copy editing of our forthcoming Volume 2.
Numbers at the 2013 conference were a little lower than at our 2011 Sydney conference (probably, in part, due to organisational factors), although a number of members sent their apologies. With 29 registered for this 2013 conference, this was just over half the number present in Melbourne last year. This led us to conclude that Melbourne may be the natural home of our conferences, because there is a larger Girardian constituency in that city. We agreed to hold our 2014 conference in Melbourne, and perhaps to hold two future conferences in Melbourne for every one held in Sydney.
The third volume in the book series, Violence, Desire, and the Sacred, was published based on this conference: “Mimesis, Movies, and Media.”
2nd Annual AGS Conference (2012,Melbourne): “Sacrifice in Life, Love and Literature”
The second annual conference of the Australian Girard Seminar took place at St Mary’s College, the University of Melbourne, on an unseasonably cool Australian Summer weekend in mid-January. Numbers were up nearly 50% on the inaugural 2011 conference, with 55 registered participants. The conference theme was ‘Sacrifice in Life, Love and Literature’, which generated a diverse range of papers from post-Soviet literature to Australian Literary autobiography, from the scapegoating of internet sex offenders to the sacrificial masculinity of Fight Club. The conference began with a late-afternoon ‘Girard 101’ session followed by a conference dinner with invited guests–including the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, the leading Australian theologian, Prof. Gerald O’Collins SJ, and Prof. Anne Hunt, the Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, Australian Catholic University. Thanks to Imitatio,the Australian Girard Seminar had the privilege and pleasure of bringing the CoV&R President, Prof. Ann Astell, from the University of Notre Dame as our guest. Ann gave the Friday night public lecture entitled ‘Hearing the Cry of the Poor: Rene Girard and St Augustine on the Psalms’. Saturday was a busy round of papers, this year requiring two streams to cover the volume of material received. In response to feedback from the previous conference, two 90 minute seminars provided more opportunity for participation. Serendipitously, Michael Hardin was in Australia and available to lead a seminar on the non-violent atonement. Retired Anglican Bishop, author and ‘Girardian therapist’ Bishop Bruce Wilson also provided a workshop, based on a case study of pastoral care and church conflict illuminated by Girardian interdividual psychology. A productive business meeting closed the conference with a number of excellent suggestions to improve future conferences, most notably an afternoon ‘Girard School’, before the conference proper, for newcomers to get properly oriented.
The organisers (Scott Cowdell, Joel Hodge and Chris Fleming) once again thank Imitatio for their support, and are happy to report that an energetic new Girardian community is clearly taking shape ‘Down Under’. The publication of their jointly-edited volume “Violence, Desire, and the Sacred: Girard’s Mimetic Theory Across the Disciplines”, with Continuum Press (London and New York), based on papers from the inaugural 2011 conference, is a further sign that Imitatio’s support is bearing fruit. Out of this conference, there was also published a volume “Violence, Desire, and the Sacred, Volume 2: René Girard and Sacrifice in Life, Love and Literature.”
Inaugural AGS Conference (2011, Sydney): “Violence, Desire, and the Sacred”
The inaugural conference of the Australian Girard Seminar, entitled “Violence, Desire, and the Sacred”, was held with great success and enjoyment on 14th-15th January, 2011, at St Paul’s College, the University of Sydney. The conference was significantly funded by a grant from Imitatio.
As is common for meetings on Girard’s work, this conference was inter-disciplinary attracting scholars from various fields (e.g., theology, anthropology, philosophy, literary studies, psychology) as well as others from outside academia, including clergy and those working in church and other organisations.
The conference attracted much interest (on short notice), with approximately 40 registered participants, and a range of high quality papers. The keynote address was given by Prof. Wolfgang Palaver, current President of COV&R. Prof. Palaver spoke on “Religion & Violence: The Perspective of Mimetic Theory”, which was recorded by ABC Radio National for a program called Encounter. A Jesuit online publication, Eureka Street, also recorded parts of the conference. Prof. Jeremiah Alberg, Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the International Christian University (Japan), provided a response to Prof. Palaver’s paper which provoked a wide-ranging discussion.
The papers at the conference covered topics utilising the mimetic theory in such areas as biblical hermeneutics, literature, theology, science, philosophy, atonement theory, the human rights discourse, peace studies and the history of the English Reformation. Speakers included Prof. Vijay Mishra (ARC Fellow and Professor of English Literature, Murdoch University), Rev. Canon Dr. Scott Cowdell (Associate Professor, Charles Sturt University), Rev.
Canon Dr. Ivan Head (Warden, St Paul’s College), Dr. Drasko Dizdar (Emmaus Monastic Community, Tasmania) and Prof. Neil Ormerod (Professor of Theology, Australian Catholic University).
Alongside the conference, the support of Imitatio enabled a specialised seminar to be held for invited scholars (immediately before the conference). The seminar’s aim was to allow a small group of scholars to converse on “Girard and the state of the world today”. Scott Cowdell began the conversation with some excellent reflections. The seminar was followed by a convivial lunch. The experience of this lunch as well as the conference dinner and other meals (so well prepared by St Paul’s College) were important in forming a collegial and friendly atmosphere. The bonding of the participants was an important aim of the conference so to enable a strong foundation for the future.
The conference excelled in achieving its main aim to provide a forum for discussion of Girard’s insights in Australia. There was much positive feedback on the conference with participants saying how they valued the chance to explore Girard’s insights in more depth, particularly through stimulating papers and a friendly atmosphere. Participants also
commented on how inexpensive the conference was in comparison to the quality of the conference (which was possible because of Imitatio funding).
The conference had a number of important outcomes. The participants agreed to formalise the Australian Girard Seminar (AGS) and form a standing committee. The participants were also very keen to hold another conference in 2012 as well as establish reading groups in major Australian cities to further the discussion of Girard’s work. There are also plans to develop a regular newsletter.
The conference was also given administration and other support by Charles Sturt University, the University of Western Sydney and St Paul’s College.
For videos of the keynote addresses and interviews from the conference:
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=27104
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=27103
Out of this conference emerged a volume published with Bloomsbury, which became the basis for a book series dedicated to mimetic theory.