Taken summer 2010. (more…)

As I mentioned in the prospectus I posted, I see both striking resemblances between Mormonism and late Neoplatonism and important influences of late Neoplatonism on the history of Christianity that need to be explored. My committee balked at linking Mormonism to late Neoplatonism and wanted further proof. So I’ve been doing some research. (more…)

On December 23, 1805, Joseph Smith was born in Sharon, Vermont. As David observed a few years ago, Joseph asserted his identity as a New Englander in petitioning for redress for the Missouri persecutions: (more…)

My presentation at the last MHA conference revolved around some ideas I’d been working with related to Mormon collective identity. A while ago I became fascinated with the way that Charles Taylor has been using the concept of “social imaginaries” in his work in social philosophy. To him, a “social imaginary” is basically the perceived social world of an individual, and Taylor’s work shows how these perceptions are critical for understanding how societies function. [1] This is an idea similar to the basic premise that Benedict Anderson introduced in Imagined Communities. Anderson focused on the phenomenon of the nation, and he described how the shared perceptions of citizens of were truly the element that made a nation possible. [2] In my view, both of these ideas – “social imaginaries” and “imagined communities” have an important connection to the question of group or collective identity. (more…)

The Provo Daily Herald has a whole page dedicated to continuing coverage of the Provo Tabernacle Fire with updates and lots of photos, including this aerial video of yesterday’s fight against the fire. (more…)

The Provo Tabernacle caught fire this morning at 2:45 am (Mountain Time) and is still currently up in flames. The major newspapers aren’t reporting on the fire yet, and the cause of the fire is still unknown at this point.

According to abc4.com, “Provo Fire Battalion Chief Lynn Scofield says the part of the roof has collapsed, and the fire has spread to most of the building.  He says there’s a chance that the building will be a total loss.”

This makes me sick, as the Tabernacle is a really beautiful building with significant historical meaning. Construction began in 1883, and although it was not completed until 1898, the Church’s General Conference was held in the building in 1886 and 1887. Attending Stake Conference there and driving by on a daily basis stand out among the many good memories from the six years I spent living in Provo.

[I rushed to get this post up this morning before leaving the house. I see now that Ardis also posted on this early this morning at Keepapitchinin and her post contains links to the several news organizations reporting on it now.]

Spencer, Thomas M, ed. The Missouri Mormon Experience. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2010. x + 187 pp. Illustrations, maps, endnotes, index. Hardback: $34.95; ISBN 978-0-82-621887-2

Back in September of 2006, historians of Missouri and of Mormonism met in Jefferson City, MO for a somewhat unusual conference co-sponsored by two local organizations: The Missouri State Archives and the Columbia Missouri Stake of the LDS Church. As its title suggests, “The Missouri Mormon Experience: A Conference of History and Commemoration” was intended to be simultaneously a historical venture and a social act – intended to “understand the troubles of the 1830s as well as to promote understanding between Mormons and non-Mormons in the state today.” It commemorated the 25^th anniversary of the rescindment of Lilburn Boggs’ Extermination Order by Gov. Kit Bond (1976). (more…)

Below is part II of our q&a with Stephen C. Taysom.

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The Intellectual Prospects for Mormonism”: The Third Biennial Faith and Knowledge Conference for LDS Graduate Students in Religion
Duke University
February 11-12, 2011

The Faith and Knowledge conference series was established in 2006 to bring together LDS graduate students and young faculty in religious studies and related disciplines in order to explore the intellectual interactions between religious faith and scholarship.  In past conferences, graduate students have been invited to reflect upon aspects of their own   intellectual reconciliations—or their failures to do so—between church and academy, and to offer fruitful solutions to fellow students undergoing similar intellectual journeys.

In keeping with these past objectives, we invite graduate students in religious studies and related disciplines working on issues related to religion (including philosophy, anthropology, sociology, ethics, history, and others) to consider Mormonism’s prospects. What intellectual and ethical issues do Mormons now face in the academy and in the intellectual world generally?  What are Mormonism’s prospects for development, reconciliation, or heightened conflict?

The conference will feature a keynote address by Grant Hardy, author of Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide.

Papers should be brief, pointed comments of ten to fifteen minutes reflecting the author’s experience and designed to serve as starting points for discussion.

Travel and accommodations subsidies will be available for those who contribute papers.

The deadline for paper proposals has been extended to October 15, 2010. Short proposals (no more than 250 words) should be sent to Ariel Bybee Laughton ( ariel.laughton@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).  Presenters will be notified by December 1, 2010.

Richard Bushman
Jason Combs
Ariel Bybee Laughton
Seth Payne
Taylor Petrey

UPDATE:

The upcoming Faith and Knowledge conference for graduate students in Religious Studies is now accepting participant registration for those not giving papers.  The 2011 conference schedule should soon be finalized and made available to those who register.  In the past, qualified registrants have been eligible for a free hotel room for the duration of the conference in order to make it easier for graduate students to attend.  The $25 registration fee helps pay for the conference expenses.  Register here.

Sagwitch: Shoshone Chieftain, Mormon Elder, 1822-1887. By Scott R. Christensen. Logan: Utah State University Press, 1999.

Scott R. Christensen has written a landmark biography of Sagwitch, the Northwestern Shoshone chief who converted to Mormonism a few years after the Bear River Massacre of 1863. Sagwitch (1822-1887) witnessed one of the most transformative periods in the history of the North American West, when European and then American colonial powers incorporated Shoshone homelands into colonial and global economies. Sagwitch himself was a survivor of the incredible violence that American expansion entailed, somehow escaping when over three hundred members of his band were slaughtered by U.S. troops stationed at Fort Douglas in January 1863. For over two decades following the massacre, Sagwitch sought to rebuild his people within the religio-cultural milieu of Mormonism. Christensen has done an admirable job, utilizing ethnohistorical techniques, combining oral histories with Sagwitch’s descendants, a rich array of images, and archival materials. (more…)

Over the past two months, Matt Bowman and Steve Taysom have had an ongoing dialogue about Taysom’s new book, in part in response to your questions.  Part I is below; part II will come Thursday.

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I love year-in-review lists. Building on last year’s post, this is a retrospective of 2010′s scholarly output in Mormon studies. I hope to add to the excellent posts by Jared (forthcoming) and J Stapley by listing not only books, but articles that also deserve attention. (As noted recently, historians should really reconsider our “journal standard,” and place more importance on scholarship other than monographs.) I also like this format because it allows reflections on general trends within Mormon studies and historiography in general.

I am bound to overlook some books and articles that others feel are significant. This is not on purpose–it is more a result of being 1) lazy 2) limited in my personal interests, or 3) ignorant of work while being stranded across the Atlantic Ocean. I hope people will mention and discuss the texts I overlook in the comments. There could also be another post dedicated to the excellent historical posts found in the bloggernacle over the last year–but that would be beyond the scopes of this retrospect.

[Note: Some of these works have a publication date of 2009. I include these for one of two reasons. 1) They were published after I posted last year's retrospective (the perils of posting at the beginning of December). 2) Though they have a 2009 publication date, they actually didn't appear until 2010.] (more…)