CALL for PAPERS: Deadline for submission of paper proposals: January 18, 2008

University of California, Riverside

June 18-22, 2008

SPEAKERS
Jean-Pierre Dupuy (Stanford / Ecole Polytechnique)
Ren Girard (Acadmie Franaise / Stanford)
W. J. T. Mitchell (Chicago / Editor-in-Chief, Critical Inquiry)
Gianni Vattimo (Turin / Member of the European Parliament, 1999-2004)

This conference will address many issues of current concern in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The idea that we live in a world ever more susceptible to the ravages of man-made catastrophes is linked with the religious notion of conversion as a metaphor for the changes in attitude and outlook that will be required in order to survive in increasingly uncertain times. In a post-9/11 world, the static logic of mutually assured destruction has been replaced by a dynamic, asymmetrical threat emerging from the shadows. At any moment a catastrophe could occur, without warning and without redress. Our ability to prepare for and cope with this new threat is one of the great political and social challenges of the twenty-first century. This conference will thus deal with ways of understanding the root causes of violence, with particular emphasis on the anthropological and sociological dimensions of conflict, and on the theories of Ren Girard.

For more information, please visit our Website at: http://www.ideasandsociety.ucr.edu/covr/