About the AGS
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President Reverend Canon Professor Scott Cowdell Research Professor| Centre for Public and Contextual Theology (PACT) Charles Sturt University Canon Theologian| Anglican Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn scowdell@csu.edu.au www.csu.edu.au/faculty/arts/theology/staff/profiles/academic-staff/scott-cowdell |
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Vice-President Associate Professor Chris Fleming Senior Lecturer | School of Humanities and Communication Arts University of Western Sydney Author of Modern Conspiracy: the Importance of Being Paranoid c.fleming@uws.edu.au www.uws.edu.au/staff_profiles/uws_profiles/doctor_chris_fleming |
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Vice-President Dr Joel Hodge Senior Lecturer | School of Theology | Faculty of Theology and Philosophy Australian Catholic University http://apps.acu.edu.au/staffdirectory/index.php?joel-hodge&d=1 |
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Secretary and Treasurer Dr Carly Osborn Research Manager Office of the Vice-Chancellor, University of Divinity https://staff.divinity.edu.au/staff/carly-osborn/ |
History of the AGS
The Australian Girard Seminar was founded in 2011 with our inaugral conference at the University of Sydney.
Those gathered in Sydney liked the mid-January timeslot, and the 24 hour residential format, from a Friday to a Saturday afternoon, with a leading international Girardian giving a public lecture as our highlight, also great food and wine to make things more convivial. Professor Wolfgang Palaver from the University of Innsbruck, a leading Girardian political theologian, was our first international guest. St Paul’s College at the University of Sydney set a high bar for future gatherings with their welcome and hospitality. The success of the conference led to annual meetings each January.
The AGS has also been the moving force behind the publication of a new book series with Bloomsbury, titled ‘Violence, Desire & the Sacred’, collections of papers utilising Girardian theory in a wide variety of disciplines.
The AGS has opted for a minimal structure: a President and Vice President, a Secretary/Treasurer, and IT expertise. Convenience dictates that we have our own ABN, bank account, cheque facilities etc, for ease of operation and ready accountability. The three scholars who got the AGS going were endorsed by those who gathered at the inaugural conference as the core office bearers for a two-year term: Scott Cowdell (Canberra, President), Chris Fleming (Sydney, Vice-President) and Joel Hodge (Melbourne, Secretary/Treasurer). Dave Hughes and Tony Robertson agreed to be the IT team who set up the website. People willing and able to convene the reading groups were also endorsed.