Please join us in welcoming our latest guest blogger, Amanda Hendrix-Komoto, PhD student doing some fascinating research who blogs at Scholaristas. Here’s a short biographical intro:

Amanda Hendrix-Komoto is a PhD Candidate at the University of Michigan, where she studies the American West, Comparative Colonialism, and British History.  She is also a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she earned a Masters degree in education while teaching elementary school, and the College of Idaho.  Her current project juxtaposes Mormon missionary work in Britain with that in the Pacific to understand the dynamics of race, gender, and class in these two respective fields of labor.  She is also interested in the development of Mormon feminism in the nineteenth century and its connections to the Mormon missionary project.  Finally, Amanda is a connoisseur of Mormon kitsch and collects Mormon missionary action figures, Book of Mormon board games, and Mormon children’s books.

Welcome, Amanda! We look forward to your contributions!

For those of you, like myself, who have used and benefitted from the wonderful Mormon History Database—a regularly updated online bibliography of all articles, books, theses, and dissertations in the field—maintained by Mike Hunter at BYU’s Harold B. Lee Library, please consider taking 5 minutes to participate in the following survey:

https://byu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_eDQUjvbRILWwkmg

Many thanks!

This post is merely designed to be a catch-all for recent Mormon history-related news. Please feel free to add anything I missed in the comments. (more…)

We at the Juvenile Instructor proudly welcome Robin Jensen—one of the foremost experts of Joseph Smith’s revelatory texts, rising star in the Mormon studies community, and all-around good guy—as a full-time contributor. This is how Robin introduces himself:

Robin Jensen is project archivist for The Joseph Smith Papers and helped edit the first two volumes in the Revelations and Translations series (published 2009 and 2011, respectively). In 2005 he earned an MA degree in American history from Brigham Young University, and in 2009 he earned a second MA in library and information science with an archival concentration from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He is now pursuing a PhD in history at the University of Utah. His first MA thesis explored the initial Strangite proselytizing effort and his second MA thesis explored the sacred record-keeping practices of early Mormonism. He believes that there is nothing better than the smell of old documents in the morning.

While obvious, it should bear mentioning that any posts/comments by Robin are not endorsed by the Joseph Smith Papers or the Church History Library.

I am especially lucky to count Rob as a collaborator and one of my good friends. As everyone who is familiar with his work already knows, we are all in for a treat with his blog contributions.

We’re thrilled to announce that after an excellent stint as a guest blogger, Tona Hangen has agreed to join the JI as our newest permablogger.

Please join us in welcoming her!

I’m surfacing from a very busy semester to ask two things:

–when did the term “FLDS” develop? I have my ideas and some initial research but if anyone has insight on that, I’d be grateful for input.

–who’s going to be at AAR/SBL in San Franciso this weekend and would there be interest in organizing an informal JI meetup?

This is my first time at AAR – I’m looking forward to it. I will be speaking in a panel sponsored by the History of Christianity Section on Monday morning on the state of the field of fundamentalism (Session A21-104), and among other things I’m musing about the emergence of the FLDS wing of Mormonism’s house–or at least the emergence of CALLING it that, and about what that might say about the changing meanings for the term “fundamentalism.” My fellow panelists are Matthew Sutton, David Harrington Watt, Randall Stephens, and Mary Beth Mathews.

FYI, the Mormon Studies Consultation panel will be on Saturday morning at 9, with Colleen McDannell at the helm, on “Mormon Women and Modernity” (Session A19-130). It sounds like it angles towards sociology rather than history, but should be interesting to attend. The contributors and papers:

Ann Duncan (Goucher College) “The Mommy Wars, Mormonism and the ‘Choices’ of American Motherhood”
Jennifer Meredith (U of U) “Western Pioneer Mythos in the Negotiation of Mormon Feminism and Faith”
Jill Peterfeso (U North Carolina) “Scripting, Performing, Testifying: Giving Faithful ‘Seximony’ Through the Mormon Vagina Monologues”
Doe Daughtry (Arizona State) “‘Further Light and Knowledge’: Ways of Knowing in Mormonism and the New Spirituality”

Respondant is R. Marie Griffith from Harvard, and James M.McLachlan and Grant Underwood will be on hand for the business meeting.

Are other JI contributors, readers & fans going to be attending AAR? Maybe we could all have a breakfast or lunch together at some point over the weekend.

The Church History and Doctrine Department at BYU’s School of Religious Education seeks applicants for two new faculty positions. The first will teach world religions—a booming topic at BYU, I hear—and the second will focus on the more traditional curriculum of the department, preferably with a PhD in history.

Applications for these positions are to be completed online, and are found through this link.

Call for Papers

The History of Mormonism in Latin America and the U. S.-Mexico Borderlands

We are pleased to announce a call for papers for a conference on the history of Mormonism in Latin America and the U.S. Mexico Borderlands to be held in El Paso, Texas on July 28, 2012 in conjunction with a 100^th Anniversary Commemoration of the “Exodus” of settlers from the Mormon Colonies in northern Mexico to the United States. (more…)

We’re absolutely thrilled to introduce and welcome Tona Hangen as our latest guest blogger here at the Juvenile Instructor. Tona introduces herself thus: (more…)

In the wake of the successful nationwide broadcast of Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons on the Documentary Channel, the political website The Daily Beast interviewed the film’s co-producer (and director and star, etc.) Darius Gray to highlight the documentary and the place of blacks in the church. Here are a few snippits: (more…)

We received the following from our good friends at Historic Sites Committee. A few of us JIers (both past and present) have interned with Historic Sites and can attest to the fantastic environment, wonderful people, and important work involved in their projects.

_______________________________

Purposes: The Church History Department is currently looking for candidates for the position of Historic Sites Curator in the Museums & Historic Sites Division. This individual will assist in identifying, researching, preserving, restoring, and interpreting historic sites significant to the history of the Church.

Work will include: intensive historical research, master planning, large-scale collaborative development projects, interpretive message and exhibit design, interpretive curriculum development, websites, and global outreach. Much of the Historic Sites Curator’s work will bear the imprimatur of the Church and must be of the highest quality and integrity. (more…)

What follows are my reflections on “Mormonism in Cultural Contexts,” a conference that took place on Saturday, June 18, 2011, in honor of Richard Bushman’s 80th birthday. The organizers—Steve Harper, Spencer Fluhman, Reid Neilson, and Jed Woodworth—deserve many congratulations for putting together such a great event.

Call for Papers

Conference Theme: Economies and Humanities
Conference Date: May 18–19, 2012
Proposal Deadline: February 15, 2012

Human beings have material needs. We claim, use, and trade the physical resources of earth and seas. We produce goods and services that we use or, not being self-sufficient, exchange. To the ancient Greeks, the consumer—the “we”—was a household. (The term “economy” derives from Greek, meaning management of household labor and material resources.) Today the household remains the unit responsible for consumption decisions, and its internal roles adapt to external demands for members’ labor. (more…)

Nate R. teaches American History to 8th graders and community college students in Colorado Springs. His MA Thesis on slavery in Utah won the MHA’s Best Thesis prize in 2008. His transcription of Joseph F. Smith’s Hawaiian diaries, titled “‘My Candid Opinion’: The Sandwich Islands Diaries of Joseph F. Smith,” is coming out in June.

In summer 2005 I was working as a researcher/writer for the Education in Zion Exhibit at BYU when the exhibit director, philosopher C. Terry Warner, called me into his office. He had been putting a lot of thought into it, he told me, and had decided to assign me to do the background research for one of the permanent Exhibit features: an overview of the life of Joseph F. Smith (EiZ is housed in the Joseph F. Smith Building). (more…)

As most of our readers probably know, the Mormon History Association’s annual conference will be held next week in St. George, Utah. The program looks great, and a number of JIers will be presenting and participating. I look forward to hearing great papers, catching up with old friends, and hopefully making new ones. For those students who plan on being there, make sure to attend the student reception on Friday evening after the awards banquet at 9:15 pm; it’s a great place to relax and meet other young scholars studying Mormon history–plus there’s free food and door prizes. (more…)

Steven Harper passed along the following note and requested we post it at JI:

The Department of Church History &  Doctrine at BYU is hosting a breakfast on Friday 27 May  at 7 AM, before Professor Reeve’s talk at MHA.  Join us at the Hilton Garden Inn, adjacent to the Dixie Center where the MHA meetings will convene.

We wish to cast a broad invitation to all who may be interested in joining the Dept. faculty and would like to ask questions, learn about dissertation grant and adjunct teaching opportunities, etc.  There are no obligations.  We hope that if you’re interested and able that you’ll join us.

Since we announced the journal’s first CFP, we are happy to broadcast their first issue. (Plus, the issue includes JI’s own Jordan W.!)

The Claremont Journal of Mormon Studies, the latest of the myriad of solid Mormon journals, has posted the first three articles in what will hopefully be a long and productive periodical and outlet for quality graduate work. Headed by qualified editors Dave Golding and Loyd Ericson, the journal describes itself as “a student-run online reviewed academic journal committed to the advancement of the field of Mormon studies and produced by the Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association in Claremont, California…The purpose of this journal is to establish a proficient and easily accessible forum for ongoing research in Mormon studies by qualified graduate students, exemplifying new research being done in various fields.” The first issue demonstrates their sophisticated, interdisciplinary, and intriguing potential.

Articles in the issue are:

• “The Inspired Fictionalization of the 1835 United Firm Revelations” by Christopher C. Smith
• “The Great God, the Divine Mind, and the Ideal Absolute: Orson Pratt’s Intelligent-Matter Theory and the Gods of Emerson and James” by Jordan Watkins
• “Prolegomena to Any Future Study of Isaiah in the Book of Mormon” by Joseph M. Spencer

The entire issue can be downloaded here.

The future is bright in Mormon studies!

Kris W. contributed to our Women’s History at JI series last month, and we liked her post so well we asked her to be a permanent contributor. As stated on the other post, Kris has a M.A. in History from The University of Western Ontario and she has co-authored three articles with Jonathan Stapley on Mormon healing rituals. An emeritus permablogger at BCC, Kris brings much needed expertise in healing rituals, women, gender, and material religion. Please join us in welcoming Kris! (more…)

The 2012 Sidney B. Sperry Symposium

You Shall Have My Word (D&C 5:10): Exploring the Text of the Doctrine and Covenants

Call For Proposals (more…)

H/T: Keith Erekson.

[forwarded message] Please join us on Thursday, February 17, at 4:00 p.m., for a talk by Prof. Paul Gutjahr about his forthcoming book, The Book of Mormon: The Biography of a Book.  This book, which will be published by thePrinceton University Press in its series on “The Lives of Great Religious Books,” tells the story of The Book of Mormon from its publication in 1830 to the present day.  Professor Gutjahr states in his abstract: (more…)