The Raven Foundation

To broaden awareness of mimetic theory, the Raven Foundation sponsored a contest for the essay that best communicates the theme of the 2010 Colloquium on Violence and Religion (COV&R) conference, Transforming Violence:  Cult, Culture, and Acculturation, to mainstream audiences. The submissions covered a wide range of topics including gossip, the Warsaw ghetto, misbehaving footballers, the television series Mad Men, the atomic bomb, and the blockbuster movie Avatar. 

The prize winning submission by Matthew Packer, Assistant Professor of English at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake is titled “Better at Being American than America”: The Chinese Copy, Too – Like We Do. In his essay, Packer highlights the economic mimicry and rivalry growing between the United States and China. The submissions earning Honorable Mentions are Vanessa Avery’s Watchmen and Mimetic Theory:  Are We Ready for Rorschach?, Benjamin Barber’s South Park: Wannabes, Victims and The Death Camp of Tolerance and Anthony W. Bartlett’s Dissing or Kissing.

All three papers were presented by their authors at the conference in Notre Dame at a panel moderated by Adam Ericksen on Friday afternoon, July 2, 2010. Appearing left to right: Keith Ross, Adam Ericksen, Suzanne Ross, Vanessa Avery-Wall, Matthew Packer and Ben Barber.

Anthony Bartlett's play, Dissing or Kissing, was performed as a Readers' Theater piece on Thursday, July 1 by the cast of Stacey Gassman, Susannah Bartlett, Dorothy Whiston, Stephanie Perdew Van Slyke with a special appearance by Anthony Bartlett as René Girard. Enjoy the show!

First Prize Winner

“Better at Being American than America”: The Chinese Copy, Too – Like We Do.

Author Matthew Packer is an assistant professor of English at Buena Vista University in northwest Iowa. He holds degrees from West Virginia University (Ph.D.) and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and prior to BVU he was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Portland, Oregon. His areas of interest include mimetic theory, cultural anthropology, and American and Pacific Rim literature. He recently led a student travel course to China and has received a McCorkle Fellowship to lead a faculty research trip to Japan this summer.

Honorable Mentions

Watchmen and Mimetic Theory:  Are We Ready for Rorschach? 

Author Vanessa Avery holds degrees from Yale Divinity School, King's College London, and McGill University. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Theology at Hartford Seminary in conjunction with the University of Exeter. Her dissertation addresses how Judaism has processed Rene Girard's notions of mimetic rivalry and scapegoating through aspects of its scripture, theology and ritual. Vanessa is an Adjunct Instructor of Religion at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut; a consultant on issues pertaining to religious, cultural, and international diversity; and operates as Hartford Seminary's Admissions Manager. She has authored Religious Diversity: A Practical Guide for Corporate Managers & Healthcare Providers, in addition to articles on religion, diversity, and experiential learning.

South Park: Wannabes, Victims and The Death Camp of Tolerance   

Author Ben Barber is a student of literary and pedagogical theory at the University of Victoria, Canada. He joined COV&R in 2008 at the UCLA Riverside conference and attended COV&R again in 2009, where he earned The Raymond Schwager Memorial Award for his paper entitled, “Missionary Colonialism’s Double Bind and the Resulting Postcolonial Crisis in Shani Mootoo’s Cereus Blooms at Night.” He has recently prepared a paper entitled “The Rum Diary: An Introduction to Hunter S. Thompson’s Esthetic Evolution,” which will appear in the 2010 fall issue of Anthropoetics: The Journal of Generative Anthropology. His current interests include comparative research into the theory of Slavoj Žižek and René Girard; the life and work of Hunter S. Thompson; and the novels of Cormac McCarthy. Ben is looking ahead to graduate work, which will consider modernist and contemporary literature alongside Mimetic Theory and Generative Anthropology.

Dissing or Kissing  

Author Anthony Bartlett studied at the Jesuit Athaneum, Oxon, England, for a License in Philosophy (1969), and then at Heythrop, University of London, for a Bachelor of Divinity (1973), followed by a year at the Lateran University, Rome. He received his Ph.D. at Syracuse University NY, 1999.  He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1973 and resigned the ministerial priesthood in 1984. He worked subsequently as director of a shelter and rehab center for homeless men in London’s East End. Before coming to the U.S.A. he was a frequent contributor to a religious affairs column in the Guardian newspaper. He taught as Assistant Professor of Theology at Bexley Hall Episcopal Seminary, Rochester NY, 2005-08, and recently as an adjunct at GTS. With his wife, Linda, he is the founder of Wood Hath Hope, a bible study community in Syracuse (www.woodhathhope.com). He is also a co-founder of Theology and Peace, an annual conference organization promoting theological development out of mimetic anthropology. His next book, Virtually Christian, How Christ Changes Human Meaning and Makes Creation New (O-Books, England) is due out November this year.