Mormon History Odds and Ends

By April 22, 2011

The end of the semester typically means a dearth of posts here at JI, as many of us are busy with exams, term papers, and other end-of-the-year activities. However, there is, as usual, no dearth of Mormon studies news, so consider this a catch-all of recent updates that deserve attention. And please feel free to add more in the comments.

  1. The Mormon History Association’s annual conference is only two months away. Many details are becoming available, including the preliminary program which shows a jam-packed schedule of fantastic presentations. But, of course, the best part of the conference is the camaraderie, and since the conference is in Utah I’m sure the attendance will be larger than usual—despite the scorching weather!
  2. The most recent MHA newsletter was recently put online, with more information to get you excited about the conference. But also included in the newsletter is the first CFP for next year’s conference:?Mormonism In Its Expanding Gobal Context: Invitations to New Interpretations and Understanding,” to take place in exotic Calgary, Alberta, in June 2012 (note that it is one month later than usual). Heading the conference committee is Richard Bennett and JI’s good friend Rachel Cope, and the committee includes JI’s recent addition Kris Wright and JI frequenter Amanda Hendrix-Komoto—the conference is definitely in good hands! The topic of the conference, global perspectives, is an especially needed field to be further explored within Mormon studies.
  3. Happy news from the Church Office Building: approval has finally been announced to rebuild the historic site of Harmony, Pennsylvania, a location of vast importance in Mormon history. This is especially a great development for JI, as several bloggers and former bloggers (myself included) worked on the research dimension of this proposed site as research interns over the last five years or so. Perhaps I’ll write more on it later.
  4. A few great books that deal with Mormon history have been released. (Including this, this, this, and this.) And there are a lot of fantastic books that, as the release date approaches, can now be pre-ordered. (See this, thisthis, this, this, and this.)
  5. There was a fun roundtable on “American Scriptures” in the recent issue of Religion and American Culture, which included a contribution form Phil Barlow and is of obvious interest to Mormon history folk. I’ve been meaning to do a write-up on it, but just haven’t found the time.

Any thoughts on these developments? Any updates, events, or notices that I missed?

Article filed under Miscellaneous


Comments

  1. Well crud, the UofU doesn’t have full access to that roundtable in JSTOR.

    Comment by BHodges — April 22, 2011 @ 11:00 am

  2. There’s a “this” not hypertextable.

    Comment by reed russell — April 22, 2011 @ 3:04 pm

  3. Reed: which “this”? I couldn’t find one that didn’t work.

    Comment by Ben — April 22, 2011 @ 3:11 pm

  4. Item 4, penultimate “this”

    Comment by Ardis E. Parshall — April 22, 2011 @ 3:39 pm

  5. Got it! It’s now fixed. Thanks, Reed and Ardis.

    Comment by Ben — April 22, 2011 @ 3:50 pm

  6. Thanks for this Ben.

    Comment by Steve Fleming — April 22, 2011 @ 4:07 pm

  7. Lots of great books this year! Is Fluhman’s expected in 2011?

    Comment by Craig M. — April 22, 2011 @ 7:18 pm

  8. Craig: last time I checked, yes. I know he turned in his full manuscript in December with the expectation that all the production & stuff would be done by fall, but who knows with these things. I checked the UNC catalogue and they don’t have anything up yet.

    Comment by Ben — April 23, 2011 @ 1:35 am

  9. I think the Bushman Festschrift/Festposium in June will be great fun. Thanks for the good reminders (and the shout-out). Last I spoke with Spencer the book still wasn’t in galleys, but these schedules (as I’m discovering) are pretty confusing and/or unpredictable.

    Comment by smb — April 23, 2011 @ 8:44 pm

  10. Indeed, the Bushman Festposium (love the word) looks like it will be grand. Hopefully we’ll have a program soon.

    Comment by Ben — April 24, 2011 @ 10:47 am

  11. Thanks for the overview, Ben. I’m going to try and get my review of Holland’s Sacred Borders up in the next few days.

    Also, does anyone know why the subtitle to Givens and Grow’s PPP bio has changed from “The St. Paul of Mormonism” to “The Apostle Paul of Mormonism”? I personally prefer the former.

    Comment by Christopher — April 27, 2011 @ 11:55 am

  12. Craig: I just got word from Spencer Fluhman that his final revisions are due to Oxford by June 1. I don’t know how long the process takes after that, but there you go.

    Comment by Ben — April 28, 2011 @ 8:02 am


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