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Scott R. Garrels
(Principal-Investigator)
Scott Garrels is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice and Assistant Research Professor in the School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. His doctoral research, Divergent Thinking and Abstract Problem Solving in Children and Adults with Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum, investigated cognitive and psychosocial deficits in individuals with callosal agenesis. He is currently one of the few scholars addressing the parallels between the mimetic theory of culture and religion and empirical research on imitation. As a result of this work he was honored with the Travis Award for Integration in Psychology and Theology (2003) and invited to present his investigations at the annual Colloquium on Violence and Religion (2004). His paper "Imitation, Mirror Neurons, & Mimetic Desire: Convergence Between the Mimetic Theory of René Girard and Empirical Research on Imitation" was recently published (2006) in Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, & Culture. His diverse engagement with scholars and professional work in neuropsychology, clinical psychology and psychoanalysis, theology, mimetic theory, and imitation research places him in an ideal position for the coordination and integration of these various disciplines which are now converging upon one another through the compelling topic of imitation.
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