The Annual Conference of the Colloquium on Violence & Religion (COV&R)
and 6th Annual Conference of the Australian Girard Seminar.
Wednesday 13 – Sunday 17 July 2016
St Patrick's Campus, Melbourne
Australian Catholic University
Theme: Violence in the Name of Religion...
One of the most pressing issues of our time is the outbreak of extremist violence and terrorism, done in the name of religion. René Girard is the premier theorist of violence in the 20th century. In this conference, we aim to bring together the insights of Girard’s mimetic theory with the latest scholarship on religion and violence, particularly exploring the nature of extremist violence. The conference will critically analyse the link made between religion and violence, and explore contemporary topics of great significance, such as Islamist terrorism and radicalization in its various political, economic, religious, military and technological dimensions.
The conference is open to academics, professionals, religious practitioners, military, police, and anyone interested in engaging this topic in respectful dialogue.
We have an exciting range of internationally acclaimed speakers who will present at the conference, including:
Professor Anne Aly (Edith Cowan University, Western Australia);
Rev Dr Sarah Bachelard (Australian Catholic University, Canberra);
Professor Greg Barton (Deakin University, Melbourne);
Reverend Professor Frank Brennan SJ (Australian Catholic University, Canberra);
Professor William T. Cavanaugh (De Paul University and author of The Myth of Religious Violence), who will give the Raymund Schwager Memorial Lecture;
Professor Jean-Pierre Dupuy (École Polytechnique, Paris / Stanford University, California);
Dr Chris Fleming (Western Sydney University, NSW);
Most Rev Dr Philip Freier (Archbishop of Melbourne);
Monsignor Professor Tomáš Halík (Charles University, Prague); and
Professor Wolfgang Palaver (the University of Innsbruck).
The format of the conference will include evening keynote addresses, followed by morning panel sessions on the same topic as the keynote. The morning sessions will have extended time for discussion and questions to explore the key conference themes, such as the relationship between religion and violence, and an analysis of contemporary religious violence, especially Islamist extremism.
The conference will also feature a panel on violence and religion in Australian-Indigenous history.
There will be two rounds in the Call for Papers/Panels. The first round is currently open, please see the Call for Papers page.
The conference is hosted by the Australian Catholic University. It is co-organised with the Australian Girard Seminar (AGS) and will incorporate its 6th annual conference.
Sponsors for the conference include:
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, Australian Catholic University
Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Charles Sturt University
Imitatio (the Thiel Foundation)
Raven Foundation.