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The Bulletin of the Colloquium on Violence & Religion The Bulletin of the Colloquium on Violence & Religion COV&R ____________________________________________________________________________________________ No. 41 October 2012 A LAND BETWEEN TWO RIVERS: COV&R Object: “To explore, criti- cize, and develop the mimetic model of Space, Place, and Mimetic Theory the relationship between violence and religion in the genesis and mainte- nance of culture. The Colloquium will be concerned with questions of both research and application. Scholars from various fields and diverse theo- retical 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.” The Bulletin is also available online: http://www.uibk.ac.at/theol/cover/bulletin/ Contents An Iowa Impression A Land between Two Rivers: COV&R 2013 Conference: University of Northern Iowa, COV&R Conference in Iowa 2013 1 Cedar Falls, IA, July 10-14, 2013 Joint Letter from the President and the Executive Secretary 2 Humanity is more than ever the author of its own fall be- Raymund-Schwager-Award 2 cause it has become able to destroy its world. -René Girard Note from The Raven Foundation 2 Between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, a self- Program of COV&R at the AAR 2012 4 sustaining eco-system that now comprises the state of Iowa Letter from the President 5 was created over thousands of years. In 1800, 240 million Musings from the Executive Secretary 6 acres of tall grass prairie covered middle America. By 1900, Reports: this land had been transformed into farm fields, and the foun- Apocalypse Revisited – Conference 2012 7 dations for large-scale industrial agriculture had been laid. Second Summer School Mimetic Theory 10 Today, this land has already lost half of its rich black top- Obituary for Walter Wink 12 soil—thousands of years in creation—and the soil continues Book Reviews: to lose both depth and quality. Changes in the land and a Bellinger, Charles K.: The Joker is Satan 13 warming climate have made us more vulnerable to both McLaren, Brian: Christian Identity drought and flood. Pesticides, fertilizers, fecal bacteria and in a Multi-Faith World. 15 antibiotics regularly turn up in our lakes and streams, and Snyder Belousek, Darrin W.: sometimes in our drinking water. The nutrients escaping from Atonement, Justice, and Peace. 17 our fields cause a “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, killing Call for Papers for new marine life. As family farms consolidate into industrialized Online Journal Skandalon 19 farming operations, towns empty and traditional ways of life Bibliography 19 in rural America disappear. Editor’s Thanks 24 Important Addresses 24 continued on p. 3 Membership Form 24 A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT AND THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY To All the Members of the Colloquium: A gathering of scholars in 1990 at Stanford University gave birth to the Colloquium on Vio- lence & Religion (COV&R). Thus, 2015 will mark our 25th year of activities. We would like to begin remote preparations for this happy event by calling on all members to reflect on ways that they would like to see that important year celebrated. We also have a suggestion for one way we might prepare. We ask that each member make an effort in the coming year to sign up one more member. We believe that many of us know someone who is interested in GIRARD’s work and in mimetic theory, but has not yet joined COV&R. And joining has never had so many benefits as now. Thanks to Imi- tatio each member receives the books published in the Violence, Mimesis, and Culture Series from Michigan State University Press gratis. That alone makes membership an economical investment. But more important is the long-term health of this organization that so many of us love. In or- der to be able to pass on what we have received, we are constantly going to need new members. This really is everyone’s responsibility and in everyone’s interest. As exemplified above, we have been very blessed with financial support from Imitatio. But it has been the prudent policy to avoid becoming dependent on Imitatio funding, both for our own independence but also in recog- nition that that funding could be cut off at any time. We believe that we can and should gratefully use the money in order to carry out activities that directly build up the organization for the future (graduate student travel grants, etc.), but not depend on it for our yearly operations. Thus, dues derived from members is the only real alternative. So we would like to urge each of you to seek out someone and encourage them to join our Col- loquium. They can easily do so by using the “Membership” page on the COV&R website. Let’s aim to give COV&R the gift of having 500 members in each of our branches (“European” and “Ameri- can”) for its 25th birthday—1000 in all! Gratefully yours, Ann Astell and Jeremiah Alberg Raymund Schwager, S.J., Memorial Essay Contest To honor the memory of Raymund SCHWAGER, SJ (†2004), the Colloquium on Violence and Re- ligion is offering an award of $ 1,500 shared by up to three persons, for the three best papers given by graduate students at the COV&R 2013 meeting at the University of Northern Iowa. To be eligible to compete, students must have registered for the conference and have had their papers accepted for presentation at the conference. Students presenting papers at the conference are invited to apply for the Raymund Schwager Memorial Award by sending a letter to that effect and the full text of their paper (in English, maximum length: 10 pages, double-spaced) in an e-mail attachment to Martha Reineke ([email protected]), organizer of COV&R 2013 conference. The due date for submission is June 1. Winners will be announced in the conference program. Prize-winning essays should reflect an engagement with mimetic theory; they will be presented in a plenary session and be considered for publication in Contagion. The Raven Foundation Informs The roll-out of The Forgiving Victim video series with theologian James Alison begins with a series of four Facilitator Retreats in the US during the October, November and December of 2012. The retreats are for anyone who is already familiar with James Alison or mimetic theory and who’d like to be in- volved with the development and launch of the Forgiving Victim course. Dates of the retreats, addi- tional information and application forms are available at http://forgivingvictim.com/home/lead-the- course/retreat-calendar/. 2 COV&R Bulletin 41 (October 2012) At this conference, we will reflect together mimetic theory in non-academic contexts. Proposals on the significance of this change. The impact will be invited on this topic also. of industrial agriculture on the land captures in • We especially welcome graduate students and close frame key ecological issues of our time. young scholars. Housing options will include inex- Ecological questions call for robust engagement pensive dormitories. • by mimetic theory. In dialogue with scientists We will explore new conversational formats. and theologians who focus on ecology, we will Conference plenaries will feature breakout sessions for discussion. Seminars will feature papers predis- highlight this important topic at our 2013 gath- tributed to conference participants. Other new ways ering. Questions for consideration may include: of presenting ideas and sharing them with others are • In what ways can mimetic theory illuminate en- most welcome. vironmental issues and priorities? Conference Logistics: • How do we understand links between violence The conference website will be up by the and religion in the context of environmental degra- end of October and will be accessible through dation? the COV&R website. Preliminary information • Can mimetic theory contribute to environmental ethics? will be posted then. The Call for Papers will be • How do interdisciplinary conversations among on the website in early December. mimetic theorists (e.g., philosophy, ethics, theology, The conference will begin at 4:00 p.m. on sociology, biology) illuminate ecological issues? Wednesday, July 10, and conclude with a Sat- • How does mimetic theory shed light on intersec- urday evening banquet, July 13. tions between religious beliefs and practices and The University of Northern Iowa is located ecological themes? in Cedar Falls, IA in northeast Iowa (5 hours • How can mimetic theory contribute to our under- west of Chicago). You will have two options standing of interconnections among organisms and when flying to the conference. varied forms of life? 1) Closest option: The local airport (4 miles • The vast expanse of land and sky in the Midwest, from the conference location) is in Waterloo, which visitors find so striking, may sharpen our IA (ALO) and is served by American Airlines awareness of humans’ relationships to non-rural from Chicago. Local hotels provide shuttles spaces and places. In what ways does mimetic theo- to/from the airport. ry illuminate such reflections? 2) Option one hour away: The Eastern Iowa Plenary Sessions on the conference theme Airport (CID) is in a different city, Cedar Rap- include: ids, which is one hour away from Cedar “Religion, Ecology, and the Planetary Other: Falls/Waterloo. The Eastern Iowa Airport is Opening Spaces for Difference.” Whitney served by American, Delta, and United. A fee- BAUMAN, Department of Religious Studies, for-service shuttle to that airport will be re- Florida International University. served by our conference and will run at select- “Restoring Ecological Health in an Agricul- ed times on July 10 and 14. You will reserve tural Sacrifice Zone.” Laura JACKSON, Depart- this shuttle when registering for the conference.
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