COV&R-Bulletin No. 13 (Oct. 1997)
Minutes of the Plenary Business Session, June 27, 1997, 4:45 p.m.
Presiding: Cesááreo Bandera
Place: Bildungshaus Mariatrost, Graz, Austria
1. Meeting called to order by President Bandera. He represented COV&R in expressing heartfelt thanks to Gerhard Larcher, as well as to his team of Christian Wessely and Elisabeth Kuehrner.
2. Nominations
A. For the Advisory Board, presented by President Bandera:
Tobin Siebers (or James Alison, if Siebers couldn't accept)
Giuseppe Fornari
Julia Shinnick
Hans J. L. Jensen
These nominations were approved unanimously as a slate. The group applauded the outgoing Board members: Judith Arias, Robert Hamerton-Kelly, Diana Culbertson, and Theophus Smith. (Note: Diana Culbertson will continue to serve on the board ex officio as the associate editor of Contagion. Her assistance of Andrew McKenna will afford him some relief in certain aspects of the work.)
B. Officers
Nominations presented by Robert Hamerton-Kelly
(1) President: Cesááreo Bandera for a second two-year term
(2) Executive Secretary: James Williams for at least another year until a suitable replacement is found (his second term ended as of the Graz meeting)
(3) Treasurer: Gil Bailie for at least another year until a suitable replacement is found (second term ended)
(4) Editor of Bulletin: Wolfgang Palaver for another year until a suitable replaced is found. (J. Elsen may be able to take over the work. He was approved in principle as a replacement for Palaver.)
Election of all four by acclamation.
3. Annual Meetings (see Future Meetings in this issue)
Members should have received a letter about the 1998 meeting and renewal of dues well before this number of the Bulletin appears.
Pres. Bandera mentioned there will also be half a day of parallel sessions for papers not necessarily related to the conference. Working groups have been formed which may propose sessions, as well as topics for future conferences (see below).
We haven't yet a site and organizer for the conference in the millennial year, 2000. Bandera mentioned the possibility of a Spain venue.
4. Crossroad Series
James Williams reported on the Crossroad book series he is editing. The Girard Reader and Resurrection from the Underground: Feodor Dostoevsky by Girard, a translation of Dostoievski: du double àà l'unitéé have come out. Members are encouraged to buy the Readerand use it for courses. Raymund Schwager's narrative work, Dem Netz des Jäägers entronnen: wie Jesus sein Leben verstand, will appear next spring as Jesus of Nazareth: How He Understood His Life.
5. Bibliography
The president encouraged everyone to send relevant bibliographical items to Dietmar Regensburger at Innsbruck.
6. Other Business
A. Robert Hamerton-Kelly announced the experimental formation of working groups in a variety of disciplines. The members of the groups will be in contact and communicate on research. They could develop a common project. The groups and their leaders:
Literary Criticism: C. Bandera
Political Science: W. Palaver
Biblical Theology: H. Jensen
Systematic Theology and Philosophy: R. Schwager
Psychology and Psychiatry: R. Palmer
Education: M.-L. Martinez
Anthropology: G. Fornari
B. There were further comments about the need for truly interdisciplinary work in COV&R.
C. Announcements
Father Billy Hewett announced that Renéé Girard will lecture at Oxford November 5. Cheryl Kirk-Duggan asked members to note areas of research and interest when they renew membership. This could be included in the Bulletin when the membership list is published.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m.
(Additional note: A treasurer's report was not given in the plenary session but one was presented by Gil Bailie in absentia at the meeting of the Advisory Board. The current balance in the North American account was just over $3,900. There is also a considerable balance in the European account kept in Innsbruck.)
Respectfully submitted, James G. Williams (Executive Secretary)
