In April 2008, the Latter-day Saint Council in the School of Religion at Claremont Graduate University announced that the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies was initially funded. For all who were involved in the establishment of the chair—the Dean of the School of Religion, the LDS Council, and the students—this was a landmark event. It meant that a professorship of Mormon Studies will exist in perpetuity at Claremont. It is the only one outside of Utah and the only one existing at a graduate university level.

Source: Meridian Magazine [visit website to read the complete article]

Spring 2010 Student Conference

The Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association

invites papers on any aspect of Mormonism.

We Particularly Encourage Submissions Related to This Year’s Conference Theme:

What Is Mormon Studies?

Transdisciplinary Inquiries Into an Emerging Field

April 23-24, 2010
Claremont Graduate University

Keynote Speaker

Jan Shipps

Professor Emerita, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Given the new academic chairs that have been established in Mormon Studies, and the conferences, courses, and programs of similar designation around the world, we are entitled to ask “What Is Mormon Studies,” and who studies in such a field? Thanks to such interest in Mormonism, the academy now faces, among others, two significant lines of inquiry.

First, Mormonism’s complexities suggest how this religious movement likely resists categorization. Is Mormon Studies a viable new field? Is it even a viable conceptual option for academic examination?

Second, from an academic standpoint, those who study Mormonism will in large part determine what Mormon Studies becomes and how it proceeds. What are the various competing visions for what should be studied and advanced under this rubric? What various aspects of Mormonism will/should be considered appropriate or germane to investigation? What aspects will/should be eliminated from academic inquiry?

As this comprehensive exploration potentially ranges through all disciplines and is therefore a trans- or interdisciplinary endeavor, we invite papers from all possible fields of academic inquiry in exploring these important questions

Preference is given to student papers.

Abstracts of 1000 words or less should be submitted no later than December 31, 2009. Authors will be notified of acceptance by January 31, 2010.

Please send submissions or questions to conference@claremontmormonstudies.org

We're very pleased to announce the first issue of the Claremont Mormon Studies Newsletter. Feel free to distribute it to friends, colleagues, or others you may know who might be interested in our program. Download to print the PDF or sign up to our email delivery list at the bottom of this page.

In this issue:

• Impressions of Claremont, by Richard Bushman (2)
• The Year Ahead (2)
• Women’s Oral History (3)
• Past Events (4)
• Mormon Studies at Claremont, by Karen Torjesen (4)
• In the Lifeboat with a Tiger, by David Golding (6)

The Claremont Mormon Studies Newsletter is a joint publication of the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies, the Council on Mormon Studies, and the Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association. Your feedback is welcome.

Mormon Studies may join University of Utah curriculum: Come September, students at the At a gathering at the University of Utah campus Tuesday, Sept. 8, Philip Barlow, Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University, and Brian Birch, founder and director of the religious studies program at Utah Valley University, discussed the possibility of a Mormon Studies program at the University of Utah.

Source: Mormon Times [visit website to read complete article]

Led by Richard Bushman and Nathan Oman, The Mormon Review is a new online journal that publishes short articles and reviews analyzing (typically non-Mormon) books, essays, exhibitions, movies, plays, and the like, from a Mormon perspective. "The task, as we conceive it," writes Bushmans, "is to pursue the meaning for Mormons of the millions of items that constitute our larger cultural world. What are we to make of the books, movies, art, music, politics, and exhibitions swirling about in our environment?"

Visit the Mormon Review website for complete details.

We're very pleased to announce that David Golding and Jacob Baker have agreed to serve as the President and Vice Presidentof CMSSA during the 2009-2010 academic school year. David Golding is a Master's student in History of Christianity, and will serve as the new President. Jacob Baker, a PhD student in Philosophy of Religion and Theology, will join him on the CMSSA's leadership council as this year's Vice President. Both have shown a strong commitment to CMSSA and Mormon Studies and will provide the group with excellent leadership as it builds upon the foundations that have been laid over the past two years. We'd also like to thank Diedre Green (President), Lon Huntsman (Vice President), Rob Hellebrand (Secretary), Loyd Ericson (Events), Devon Grow (Treasurer), and David Golding (Public Relations) for their great work last year!