Announcement: The New Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies is. . . .

By January 28, 2011

Patrick Q. Mason. He did his graduate work at Notre Dame under George Marsden and recently published a form of his dissertation as The Mormon Menace: Violence and Anti-Mormonism in the Antebellum South (I have to say that the title of his dissertation, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Mob,” is pretty dang awesome). He has also published several articles of note. Apparently it won’t be official until March, but the word is now out.

Congrats, Pat. This is great news for Claremont, too.

Article filed under Announcements and Events State of the Discipline


Comments

  1. H/t Jacob Baker

    Comment by David G. — January 28, 2011 @ 11:58 am

  2. Wow. Anyone got the inside scoop?

    Comment by Randy B. — January 28, 2011 @ 12:24 pm

  3. Was this supposed to be public?

    And yes, it is great news for Claremont. His vision for the program is exactly what Claremont (and Mormon Studies in general) needs.

    Comment by the narrator — January 28, 2011 @ 12:53 pm

  4. Jacob apparently thinks so (grin).

    http://www.facebook.com/#!/jacob.t.baker/posts/196781787005416

    Comment by David G. — January 28, 2011 @ 12:57 pm

  5. Then I guess it is okay to post. Patrick certainly won me over when he came in December.

    Patrick is also helping organize our upcoming conference on War and Peace, which we should hopefully have a finalized program available for soon.

    Comment by the narrator — January 28, 2011 @ 1:14 pm

  6. Congrats, Pat!

    Comment by J. Stapley — January 28, 2011 @ 1:23 pm

  7. Congrats to Pat! He will definitely do great for the program.

    And sincere appreciating sent out to the Bushmans, who undoubtably worked wonders to get the program where it is today.

    Comment by Ben — January 28, 2011 @ 1:30 pm

  8. Yes, the Chair of the LDS Council here in SoCal sent out an email to some of us saying it was ok to make the announcement but we were not to discuss the details concerning the terms of his appointment until the official announcement from CGU in March.

    Comment by Jacob B. — January 28, 2011 @ 1:40 pm

  9. Awesome!

    How common is it for an Assistant Prof. to hold a chair? Will he then be tenured at Claremont?

    Comment by smallaxe — January 28, 2011 @ 1:42 pm

  10. Awesome!

    Comment by Jared T — January 28, 2011 @ 1:42 pm

  11. I just saw that he’s an associate professor at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

    Comment by smallaxe — January 28, 2011 @ 2:00 pm

  12. Yeah, he taught for a few years at American University in Cairo and recently returned to the Kroc Institute (where he received a masters’ degree).

    Comment by David G. — January 28, 2011 @ 2:02 pm

  13. The Hunter Chair is a tenured position.

    Comment by Jacob B. — January 28, 2011 @ 2:43 pm

  14. Congrats to Pat. This seems like a mutually-beneficial decision. This is obviously an unusually great job for a junior scholar like Pat, and Claremont will really benefit from Pat’s several strengths.

    Comment by Christopher — January 28, 2011 @ 3:00 pm

  15. Thanks for the well wishes, everyone. I’m especially pleased with the nice things the Claremont students are saying — since they’ll be stuck with me! I’m obviously honored but especially humbled, given the enormous shoes to fill in following Richard (with significant assists from Claudia, Armand Mauss, and others). But I’m very much looking forward to it, and to riding the new wave of Mormon studies.

    Comment by Patrick M. — January 28, 2011 @ 5:18 pm

  16. Congrats, Patrick. I’m enjoying your book and pleased to hear about your new appointment.

    Comment by smb — January 28, 2011 @ 5:27 pm

  17. The Hunter Chair is a tenured position.

    Does that mean that he’ll be there as long as he wants?

    Comment by smallaxe — January 28, 2011 @ 5:33 pm

  18. Congratulations!

    Comment by Edje Jeter — January 28, 2011 @ 6:58 pm

  19. Sam, you’re reading something that deals with Mormonism, post-1844? 🙂

    Comment by Christopher — January 29, 2011 @ 12:03 am

  20. Chris, only under duress. I’m reading it because I’ve heard such great things about Patrick and because I somehow against my better judgement agreed to write something for matt on martyrdom that extends beyond 1844. You can be sure that I will retreat to my antebellum cave again after this book.

    Comment by smb — January 29, 2011 @ 7:58 am

  21. I suppose I should clarify my earlier question.

    When Bushman held the chair wasn’t it only a term appointment? Has it been converted to a permanent appointment since then?

    Comment by smallaxe — January 29, 2011 @ 9:11 am

  22. smallaxe: that is correct, as far as I understand it. The beauty of the success Bushman had in the position was making it so it is now a tenured, permanent position.

    Comment by Ben — January 29, 2011 @ 9:24 am

  23. Yes, it was a matter of raising the funds necessary for guaranteeing the chair and making it tenured. Initially, it was hoped that there would be enough money raised from the very beginning to tenure the chair, but it was much more difficult than anticipated and it had to be designated as a visiting professor position. This is why Kathleen Flake turned it down (when she was the preferred candidate) 3 years ago. Luckily the Bushmans were in a perfect position to pilot it for the 3 years and were in fact only interested in a 3 year contract.

    Comment by Jacob B. — January 29, 2011 @ 10:48 am

  24. That’s wonderful. It looks like Patrick will be a major player in the field for years to come. Congratulations to him!

    Comment by smallaxe — January 29, 2011 @ 10:49 am

  25. Congratulations to Patrick, that’s great!

    Comment by BHodges — January 29, 2011 @ 3:50 pm

  26. Congratulations! Glad to hear the news! I was happy to get my copy of Mason’s book about a week ago — I’m looking forward to reading it, and I’m hoping that it will encourage more work on the history of the church in the South including a comprehensive history of the Southern States Mission and the publication of John Morgan’s diaries.

    Totally tangential note: I have also followed some of the work of Mary Ella Engel (Western Carolina University) and am looking forward to the revision and publication of her dissertation, “Praying with One Eye Open: Mormons and Murder in Late-Nineteenth-Century Appalachian Georgia” (University of Georgia, 2008).

    Comment by Researcher — January 30, 2011 @ 10:51 am

  27. Congrats to Patrick.

    Comment by Steve Fleming — January 30, 2011 @ 11:18 am

  28. Patrick, this is terrific news!

    Comment by Mark Ashurst-McGee — January 31, 2011 @ 11:31 am


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