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Honorary
René Girard
Member of the Académie Francaise, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is Andrew B. Hammond Professor Emeritus of French and Comparative Literature, Stanford University. Internationally renowned for his work on the nexus between violence and religion as well as his “mimetic theory,” René Girard’s publications have been translated into numerous languages, and the secondary literature on his thought numbers in the hundreds of articles and over fifty full-length books. His major works include: Deceit, Desire and the Novel (Hopkins, 1965); Violence and the Sacred (Hopkins, 1978); Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World (Stanford, 1987); The Scapegoat (Hopkins, 1986); I See Satan Fall like Lightning (Orbis, 2001). His latest book in French, Achever Clausewitz, was published in 2007. His most recent book in English, Mimesis and Theory: Essays on Literature and Criticism, 1965 – 2005 (edited by Robert Doran), was published in May, 2008, on Stanford University Press.
Chairman Emeritus
Robert Hamerton-Kelly is Senior Research Scholar Emeritus at the Center for International Security and Arms Control at Stanford University, and is the president of Imitatio Inc., an organization that furthers the study of mimetic theory. As Dean of Chapel and Consulting Professor, he was a full member of the Stanford Faculty. He lectured in Religious Studies, in the Greek section of the Classics, and in the Ethics of International Security in general (Just War Theory and the proper use of military force) and the ethics of nuclear weapons in particular (Deterrence), in the department of Political Science. He retired early from Stanford in 1997 to become Senior Minister of the Woodside Village Church in the vicinity of Stanford, retiring in 2004. Since retirement he continues to host a biweekly seminar with René Girard on the theme of Religion and Violence. He is one of three founding members of the COV&R, and is the author of Pre-existence, Wisdom and the Son of Man ( Cambridge, 1973 / 2004) and Sacred Violence (Fortress, 1992). He has edited Violent Origins: Walter Burkert, René Girard and Jonathan Z. Smith on Ritual Killing and Cultural Formation (Stanford, 1986) and Politics and Apocalypse (Michigan, 2007). A collection of Bob’s sermons of can be found on http://www.hamerton-kelly.com
Education Committee Chair
James Alison (b. London 1959) is a Catholic theologian, Priest, and wandering teacher. He first became inspired by the thought of René Girard in 1985 and since then has been involved in exploring the fecundity of mimetic theory for Systematic Theology. The author of several books in this field, including Knowing Jesus, Raising Abel and The Joy of Being Wrong, he has also attempted to allow mimetic theory to interact with the understanding of matters gay as they have impacted the life of the Catholic Church, as is evidenced by his book Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay and his teaching and work accompanying retreats. James is currently at work on a course of adult introduction to the Christian faith, developed from the perspective of Girardian thought. He lives in Brazil but travels frequently all over the world for talks, retreats and courses. An up-to-date collection of James’ writings of can be found on www.jamesalison.co.uk
Research Committee Chair
Jean-Pierre Dupuy is Professor Emeritus of Social and Political Philosophy, Ecole Polytechnique, Paris and Professor of French and Political Science, Stanford University. He is a member of the French Academy of Technology and the Director of Research of Imitatio. His most recent work has dealt with the topic of catastrophe. Among his latest publications: On the Origins of Cognitive Science, The MIT Press, 2009; La Marque du sacré, Paris, Carnets Nord, 2009.
Publication Committee Chair
William A. Johnsen is a Professor of English at Michigan State University, the Editor of Contagion and the book series Studies in Violence, Mimesis, and Culture. He is the author of Violence and Modernism. Ibsen, Joyce, and Woolf (2003) as well as many essays and articles on Irish, English, and European modernism and mimetic theory. His website is at www.msu.edu/~johnsen
Imitatio Editor
Andrew J. McKenna, professor of French language and literature at Loyola University in Chicago, earned a Ph.D. in Romance Languages [French & Spanish] from Johns Hopkins University. For the decade between 1996 and 2006, he was the Editor-in-Chief of Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture, 1996-2006. Andrew is the author of Violence and Difference: Girard, Derrida, and Deconstruction as well as numerous articles on French and European literature, literary theory, and film.
Imitatio Platform Representative Member
Wolfgang Palaver was born in 1958 in Zell am Ziller (Austria). He is professor of Catholic social thought, chair of the Institute for Systematic Theology and the interdisciplinary research platform "World Order – Religion – Violence" at the University of Innsbruck (Austria). Since 2007 he is also president of the "Colloquium on Violence and Religion". He has written articles and books on Thomas Hobbes, Carl Schmitt, and on the relationship between religion and violence. His most recent books are René Girards mimetische Theorie (3rd ed. 2008); Passions in Economy, Politics, and the Media (Ed. with P. Steinmair-Pösel; 2005), Aufgeklärte Apokalyptik (Ed. with A. Exenberger and K. Stöckl; 2007) and Westliche Moderne, Christentum und Islam (Ed. with R. Siebenrock and D. Regensburger; 2008).
Executive Director
Lindy M. Fishburne is the Executive Director of Imitatio. She leads the organization’s strategic development and program design. Lindy joins Imitatio after a career in management consulting, advising Fortune 500 companies on profitable growth strategies. She also brings years of experience in non-profit development and feasibility planning. Managing two start-up companies through rapid growth and eventual sale has equipped her to guide the development of Imitatio from concept to sustainable organization supporting a wider hearing of Mimetic Theory worldwide.