Mark Ashurst-McGee is a friend of the JI and the Senior Research and Review Editor with the Joseph Smith Papers. He holds a Ph.D. in American History from Arizona State University and has published broadly on Joseph Smith and early Latter-day Saint history. He co-edited, along with Michael Hubbard MacKay and Brian M. Hauglid, Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity, which was recently published by the University of Utah Press.
This collaborative volume is the first to provide in-depth analysis of all of Joseph Smith’s translation projects. The compiled chapters explore Smith’s translation projects in focused detail and in broad contexts, as well as in comparison and conversation with one another. The various contributors approach Smith’s sacred texts historically, textually, linguistically, and literarily to offer a multidisciplinary view. Scrupulous examination of the production and content of Smith’s translations opens new avenues for understanding the foundations of Mormonism, provides insight on aspects of early American religious culture, and helps conceptualize the production and transmission of sacred texts.
After decades of work, the first volumes of the Emmeline Wells’ diaries went live today on the Church Historian’s Press website to little fanfare. See the press release here. A prominent Latter-day Saint leader and women’s suffrage activist, Wells was a prolific diarist. The forty-seven extant volumes of her diary offer an expansive view in the nineteenth and early twentieth-century life in Utah. The first six are now live with more expected later in the summer.
From our friends at the Joseph Smith Papers project:
To commemorate the 2020 release of volumes 10 and 11 of the Documents series, which cover the history of Joseph Smith and the Latter-day Saints from May 1842 to February 1843, the Joseph Smith Papers Project will host the fourth annual Joseph Smith Papers Conference on September 18, 2020, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The theme for this year’s conference is “Joseph Smith’s Connections and Networks.”
Here are details on a few events over the next couple weeks in Provo and Salt Lake City.
“Saints, and Other Western Wonders”
Date: Thursday, Oct 10, 2019
Time: 11 am
Location: Karl G. Maeser Building Auditorium, Brigham Young University
Dr. David Walker will draw from his new book, Railroad Religion: Mormons, Tourists, and the Corporate Spirit of the West and discuss how the transcontinental railroad era mainlined the church. You can find more details here.
Visions and
Visionaries: Joseph Smith in Comparative Contexts
The
Department of Church History and Doctrine at BYU and the Church History
Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announce the
Church History Symposium, March 12–13, 2020. The symposium will convene at
Brigham Young University (March 12) and at the Conference Center Theater in
Salt Lake City (March 13). Keynote speakers include Sheri Dew and Richard Lyman
Bushman (March 12), and President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First
Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (March 13).
On Friday, October 11, 2019, the Joseph Smith Papers Project will host the third annual Joseph Smith Papers conference. Due to the overwhelming public interest in past conferences, this year’s event will take place at the Conference Center Theater in order to accommodate all who wish to attend. The theater is located on the west side of the Conference Center (60 West North Temple St., Salt Lake City, Utah 84150).
The “Quick and
Dirty Topic Model” is a sneak-peek at a larger project that will be released
with Better Days 2020, which is
the sesquicentennial celebration of women’s suffrage and the centennial of the
19th Amendment. It sounds like the results of the later slow and thorough
topic model will be released in a digital and explorable format with the Better
Days celebrations.
Research Historian, Joseph Smith Papers, (Contingent)–Church History Department
PURPOSES
The Church History Department announces an opening for a Research Historian with the Joseph Smith Papers project. The successful candidate will assist the Joseph Smith Papers in the Publications Division of the Church History Department with historical and textual research for volumes in the Papers’ Documents series. This is an exciting and unique opportunity for someone interested in pursuing a career in history. We are looking for a motivated, energetic, and skilled individual to join our team.
This is a full-time position starting in September 2019 and expected to last 12 months.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Duties will include research related to document analysis (textual and documentary intention, production, transmission, and reception) and contextual annotation of documents (identifications and explanations). Research will involve work in primary and secondary sources for early nineteenth-century America and early Latter-day Saint history. Work will include general assistance to volume editors.
The Research Historian will work under the direction of senior Historians/Writers.
QUALIFICATIONS
The ideal candidate will possess the following knowledge, skills, and abilities: Completion of Bachelor’s degree in history, religious studies, or other related field, preference will be given to those with master’s degrees and/or in doctoral programs in history, religious studies, or related discipline. Knowledge of and training in historical research Demonstration of excellent research and writing skills Ability to work in a scholarly and professional environment Strong organizational, time management, and verbal communication skills Organized, with an ability to prioritize time-sensitive assignments Creative and flexible Ability to work in a team, as well as independently Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite
Please attach a vita, a short writing sample demonstrating ability in using primary sources to form a cogent argument, and a list of three references to your application.
WORTHINESS QUALIFICATION Must be an endowed member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with a current temple recommend.
Deadline: 23 June 2019
To apply, go to careers.lds.org and search for Job Posting 236293
From our friends at the Joseph Smith Papers Project:
Call for Papers
“Joseph Smith’s Expanding Visions and the Practical Realities of Establishing Nauvoo.”
(September 1839-April 1842)
On 11 October 2019, the Joseph Smith Papers Project will host its third annual conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. As with past years, the 2019 conference will be held to celebrate the release of recent volumes–Documents 7, Documents 8, and Documents 9. These volumes reproduce high-quality transcriptions of Joseph Smith’s papers from September 1839 through April 1842. As noted in the call for papers:
Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni & Visitors Center, Brigham Young University
Some of the most puzzling documents left in the wake of Joseph Smith’s prophetic career pertain tot he Book of Abraham–from the ancient papyrus to the nineteenth-century notebooks. For over a century these documents were specially housed away from public view. In 2018 the Joseph Smith Papers Project team published the documents in Revelations and Translations, vol. 4.
Matt Witten on LATTER-DAY SAINT THEOLOGY &: “This one? https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/157453”
Eric Nielson on LATTER-DAY SAINT THEOLOGY &: “I would like to read Paulsen's dissertation. Does anyone have some link or way to access it?”
Blake on LATTER-DAY SAINT THEOLOGY &: “I got a kick out of your list of "finitists" -- for a number of reasons. Sterling McMurrin was certainly not a finitist -- or…”
Steve Fleming on Study and Faith, 3:: “Thanks, Mark. Glad to have been on this journey with you for so many years!”
Recent Comments
Terry H on LATTER-DAY SAINT THEOLOGY &: “I mean, I know its in the link, but just curious.”
Terry H on LATTER-DAY SAINT THEOLOGY &: “Perhaps I missed something, but when and where is it?”
Matt Witten on LATTER-DAY SAINT THEOLOGY &: “This one? https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/157453”
Eric Nielson on LATTER-DAY SAINT THEOLOGY &: “I would like to read Paulsen's dissertation. Does anyone have some link or way to access it?”
Blake on LATTER-DAY SAINT THEOLOGY &: “I got a kick out of your list of "finitists" -- for a number of reasons. Sterling McMurrin was certainly not a finitist -- or…”
Steve Fleming on Study and Faith, 3:: “Thanks, Mark. Glad to have been on this journey with you for so many years!”