Panelist Solicitations: The Western History Association 2010, and the Mormon History Association 2010

By Jared TAugust 19, 2009

I’m looking to fill a few panels for some conferences in 2010.

1) I’m looking for a panelist for the 2010 Western History Association Conference (See the Call For Papers here). I am proposing a paper on native Mexicans (Mormons and not) in the Mormon Colonies of Chihuahua, Mexico in the 19th century. A second panelist is proposing a paper on Pancho Villa and the Mormon Colonies. A third panelist would ideally deal with some aspect of Mormonism in the US-Mexico borderlands, the Mormon Colonies, or Mormons and some other western context (the theme of the Conference is “Many Wests” which invites studies of international and non-traditional “wests”). This request is time critical as proposals are due September 1.

Mormons and India in Representation: Savagery, Civilization, Empire

By Edje JeterAugust 19, 2009

In 1898 the Improvement Era introduced a three-page description of suttee with the following explanation:

In years past the Latter-day Saints were frequently referred to the suppression of the SUTTEE in India by act of the British Parliament, as a precedent and justification of certain congressional enactments?. [W]e thought perhaps a description?would be of interest to our readers. [1]

They weren?t kidding about the ?frequently.?

What is Mormon Studies? Some Preliminary Observations/Questions

By GuestAugust 17, 2009

Three years ago here at Claremont Graduate University (CA) we formed an LDS student group, the Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association (CMSSA). The group consists of (mostly) graduate students studying in and around the Claremont area who are interested in Mormon studies, but mainly serves as an extension of the Mormon Studies program in the School of Religion at CGU.

Perspectives on Parley Pratt’s Autobiography: Persecution, Memory, and Mormon Identity

By David G.August 17, 2009

A year ago, almost to the day, I found myself discussing my masters’ thesis on the role of memory and persecution in shaping Mormon identity during the 1840s and 1850s with Mary Richards, a professor of history at BYU. She mentioned wryly that she enjoyed my thesis a great deal, but that she had noted my heavy reliance on the writings of Parley P. Pratt. She suggested in a joking way that perhaps I should change my title to ?Parley Pratt’s Memory of Persecution.? I laughed along with her, but defended myself by saying that Pratt had written far more about the persecutions than anyone else. Historian Ken Winn agrees with me, arguing in his Exiles in a Land of Liberty that Pratt was the foremost Mormon commentator on the Missouri conflict (147).

Notes on The Mormon Publishing Panel at the 2009 Sunstone Symposium, Featuring Jana Riess, Tom Kimball, Greg Kofford, and Chris Bigelow

By Jared TAugust 16, 2009

Session on Mormon Book Publishing [As always, this is not a transcript, but my imperfect, typed notes of the session which I have reworked for readability and does not presume to accurately represent the totality of the conversation.]

[Jana Riess] I came to publishing through grad school, if you think of the amount of people in academic programs and how many jobs are in academics, the extra has to go somewhere. I?m one of those. I worked for publishers weekly, book review editor. During the course of that decade, every religion book published in N. America came to my house, that was a great experience, to see what was going on in publishing across the board, major presses, evangelical publishers, small publishers.

Perspectives on Parley Pratt’s Autobiography: Pratt and the Enervating Power of Evil

By SC TaysomAugust 14, 2009

In my spare moments this summer, I returned to Pratt’s Autobiography just to see what would strike me. Probably because of my continuing work on Mormon theodicy, my interest in the changing Mormon conceptions of evil and the accompanying shift in apotropaic ritual, I was most interested in several passages dealing with Pratt’s view of evil in the world.

Neither Johnny Lingo nor the Eight-Cow Husband Fought in the Mormon Cow War

By Edje JeterAugust 13, 2009

Moving onward, ever onward, through the simile and metaphor zoo, we arrive at Bos primigenius, ?civilization?s most important animal,? the cow. [1] Mormonism?s pre-eminent bovine octet first lumbered across a public screen in 1969 when Johnny Lingo used them to buy a bride, perpetuate his culture?s patriarchal commodification of women, and teach us that if we?re nice and/or Machiavellian enough we?ll get a hot wife. Or something. [2] Fittingly for a Mormon-produced film, plurality dominated the plot.

Preserving Your Personal History: A Lecture Series Sponsored by the Church History Library

By Jared TAugust 13, 2009

I was at the Church History Library and inadvertently struck gold as I picked up a pamphlet at the desk. I say gold because I’m in an ongoing effort to preserve my family history and these lectures seem like a great opportunity to get ideas and direction in this from professional archivists and conservators from the Church History Library and the Church History Museum. Here is the Schedule:

Notes from the 2009 Eborn Book Event: Dennis Horne on Abraham Cannon and Other Projects

By Jared TAugust 12, 2009

Here are my notes from Dennis Horne’s presentation. As always, these are imcomplete notes and not a complete transcript.

Sunstones along the Road to Zion: Mary Farrell Bednarowski and Women’s Religious Experience

By ElizabethAugust 11, 2009

After salivating over Mystic Pizza and briefly, very briefly, missing Connecticut, I flipped to KBYU for a little late-night telethon watching. I was pleased to have my appetite whetted again. The fare was a documentary miniseries called Road to Zion: Travels in Church History, France.

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