The Colloquium on Violence and Religion (COV&R) is an international organization dedicated to “exploring, critiquing, and developing” the mimetic theory proposed by the French historian, literary critic, and anthropological philosopher René Girard.^[1] Membership includes scholars of theology, religious studies, literary studies, philosophy, psychology, and other academic fields as well as clergy and other practitioners.

Girard’s work focused on the sources of human violence in mimetic (unconsciously imitative) desire and the centrality of religion in the formation of culture through the management of violence (the single-victim mechanism or scapegoat effect), but the scope of COV&R’s interest has expanded beyond violence to mimetic desire’s positive potential and beyond religion to other disciplines.

COV&R is affiliated with regional organizations around the world devoted to Girard’s work, mimetic theory, and peacemaking.^[2]

COV&R began with a meeting in 1990 at Stanford University with theologians James G. Williams, Robert Hamerton-Kelly, and Charles Mabee as its three co-founders. When constituted formally in 1991, it formed a board with Girard as honorary chair; Raymund Schwager, a theologian from the University of Innsbruck, as president; Williams as executive secretary; and Wolfgang Palaver, also a theologian from Innsbruck, as editor of the newsletter. Prominent board members have included James Alison, Eric Gans, and Walter Wink.

Michigan State University Press publishes COV&R’s annual journal, Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture (ISSN 1930-1200) and two related series of books: Breakthroughs in Mimetic Theory and Studies in Violence, Mimesis, and Culture.

COV&R also publishes a quarterly online newsletter, The Bulletin of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion.

COV&R holds an annual summer meeting, usually in July. The location has recently rotated in a three-year cycle between sites in North America, Europe, and the rest of the world. It also meets in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in November.

• 1991–1995: Raymund Schwager
• 1995–1999: Cesário Bandera
• 1999–2003: Diana Culbertson
• 2003–2007: Sandor Goodhart
• 2007–2011: Wolfgang Palaver
• 2011–2015: Ann W. Astell
• 2015–2019: Jeremiah Alberg
• 2019–2023: Martha Reineke

Sandor Goodhart, Jørgen Jørgensen, Tom Ryba, and James G. Williams, eds. For René Girard: Essays in Friendship and in Truth^[3]. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2009.

James G. Williams. Girardians: The Colloquium on Violence and Religion^[4], 1990–2010. Zürich and Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2012.

Official website