From the editors of Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity:
In conjunction with this year’s annual conference of the Mormon History Association, the University of Utah Press is offering a 20%-off advance sale on the soon-to-be released
Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity (available 26 June 2020). This sale also includes free domestic shipping.
The offer is available through the book’s University of Utah Press webpage:
Call for Papers – Inaugural issue of the JMSSA[Original Post]
The Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association (JMSSA) is accepting submissions for our inaugural issue in 2021. Papers accepted for publication will receive a $500 honorarium. JMSSA is a peer-reviewed academic journal sponsored by the Mormon Social Science Association. Founded in 1979, the MSSA is an interdisciplinary scholarly society promoting the study of social life within the Latter Day Saint movement.
Aims and Scope
The Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association publishes original research, synthetic reviews, and theoretical or methodological essays on topics relevant to the Latter Day Saint movement from a social science perspective. We welcome papers from all social science disciplines, as well as work in other disciplines with a social science approach. We encourage submissions from students, junior scholars, and underrepresented voices in Mormon Studies. The journal is atheological and nonpolemical. The journal does not consider previously published work except by invitation. The journal does not consider papers simultaneously submitted elsewhere for review.
Submissions
Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association accepts papers of any length, including research notes. All submissions are screened by the editor or editorial board to determine their suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are forwarded for peer-review. Subsequent to peer-review, papers may be rejected, returned for revision, or accepted for publication.
The journal conforms to the “author-date” citation system outlined in The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition (Chapter 15). All submissions must be accompanied by an abstract not to exceed 250 words. Abstracts should state the research question(s), identify basic methods, and summarize main findings. Footnotes should be used for essential clarification only, and not for excurses.
Send submissions in MS Word format to: benjamin.knoll@centre.edu For more information, contact Rick Phillips, rick.phillips@unf.edu
We are grateful to organizer Melodie Jackson for passing on details for this event. Here are her words: “There will be some amazing people speaking and singing. It is a healing space for Us. By Us. To Us. I hope you can spread the word and invite as many black people as you can to come and hear each others’ stories. There are healers among us, and I’m excited for you to hear them and feel community, feel heard, and feel seen amidst so much chaos. It will be streamed live through this (Black Lives Matter to Christ) page! 6 pm MST time. Come ready to be validated and filled. See y’all there!”
While we are a Mormon history blog, and not a devotional outlet, we support the work of Black academics doing anti-racist work in Mormonism.
I found this in the Journal of Charles L. Walker. I hope that others will point me to Latter-day Saint songs we haven’t heard before.
Charles Lowell Walker, Washington County Historical Society
JOURNAL: St. George–June 1st. Dry and warm. Went with the choir to Pres. Young’s house to pay our respects on this anniverary of his birthday. The choir sand a song on teh north porch and were then invited into the hall and theer sang several songs appropriate to the occasion. The following one I composed for the choir, who did credit to it by the animated style in which they sang.
Friend of JI Matt Grow passed this on to us. Dr. Grow is the President of the Communal Studies Association for 2020. Here is a LINK to the original.
Dear Communal Studies Association Members,
The CSA board met this past week to consider how best to hold a conference this fall. Given the uncertain situation with the COVID-19 pandemic—including the potential health challenges of traveling and meeting together, as well as budget cuts and travel restrictions at many institutions—we decided that it would be best to hold a “virtual” conference. Our conference will occur on the same dates, October 1-3, and have the same theme, “Foundations and Futures.” But rather than meet at the Historic Ephrata Cloister in Pennsylvania, we will meet on-line to hear the latest scholarship and perspectives in the field of communal studies.
Members of the Mormon History Association received an email in the past few days about the digital conference the organization will offer from June 6-12, 2020 (some presentations will be on the website for longer). There is no registration cost for MHA members; MHA membership is the only requirement for participation. You will receive a password to log in to mormonhistoryassociation.org to view the programming.
As conference co-chairs, Anne Berryhill and I have been blown away by how many people are anxious to help MHA put together programming for a digital conference. Teamwork, truly, makes the dream work. You can see the organization’s email HERE (LINK). The program is also available at the bottom of this post.
The only cost for the 2020 conference is membership in MHA. Digital membership is only $40, and student memberships are only $35, though if you’re like me, you’d prefer to have a physical copy of the journal ($70). You can join HERE. Here are two reasons you should join MHA for 2020 (and beyond!):
Investment in MHA is an investment in the academic study of Mormon history.
Frankly, these are tough economic times. I know that and live that, and the academic job markets I’m entering this fall bear witness to this reality. My $70 is fair and reasonable for access to the Journal of Mormon History and membership in MHA. It’s also my small way of saying, “I want MHA and Mormon history to survive and thrive.” If you’ve let your membership lapse, this would be a great time to re-join. Friends at first are friends again at last, etc.
Please renew your commitment to the academic study of Mormon history. Or, if you prefer, Latter-day Saint and Mormon history. I am an academic because of the skills I learned researching Mormonism and presenting at MHA. Every student, scholar, and consumer of Mormon history deserves the same opportunity that I and hundreds of others have had because of their participation in MHA.
MHA will make decisions on digital programming on future conferences based upon how 2020 goes.
If MHA 2020 goes well as a digital conference, it gives the organization the go-ahead to think about how we can have digital offerings at every conference. For those who face adverse health conditions, have economic constraints, or other reasons they cannot travel, this provides an option to participate online.
You may think to yourself, “I attend MHA every year, what does it matter to me if there are online offerings?”
I don’t think that digital programming will never replace face-to-face meetings. But, frankly, MHA members like me can examine our good fortune that institutions sponsor our travel or that we can find odd jobs to pay for travel, find friends to lodge with and scrimp to be able to pay for meals at conferences. Money, far too often, keeps people from participating at MHA. Digital programming allows more people to participate. More participation means more and better scholarship.
If we aren’t accessible to our membership and can’t allow folks who don’t have institutional affiliations or independent wealth to participate in MHA, then MHA will actively suffer for it. YOU can make a difference in making things better for all the many scholars and enthusiasts MHA hopes to reach by joining MHA. As an academic non-profit, digital options must make financial sense. If more folks join, the 2021 co-chairs can go to the Board and ask for the flexibility and funds to provide more content for MHA’s members.
So please. Join now. Support the academic study of Mormon history. Help MHA make history by pulling off a digital conference that is economically viable.
There were always a million things going on in the life of Mormonism’s founding prophet. But when Joseph Smith had time and secretaries, he set himself to work in matters from the mundane to the metaphysical. That’s certainly the case for the period from May-August 1842 (Joseph Smith Papers Documents, Volume 10, or D10), as he “introduced new religious rituals, directed missionary work, and struggled to organize resources for the hundreds of converts from the United States and England who continued to gather to Nauvoo, Illinois.”[i] Ranging from letters, newspaper selections, financial documents, revelations, and even Nauvoo city scrip (currency), D10’s editors have provided a marvelous set of 105 records for scholars to understand Smith’s chaotic life better.
Steve Fleming on Study and Faith, 5:: “The burden of proof is on the claim of there BEING Nephites. From a scholarly point of view, the burden of proof is on the…”
Eric on Study and Faith, 5:: “But that's not what I was saying about the nature of evidence of an unknown civilization. I am talking about linguistics, not ruins. …”
Steve Fleming on Study and Faith, 5:: “Large civilizations leave behind evidence of their existence. For instance, I just read that scholars estimate the kingdom of Judah to have been around 110,000…”
Eric on Study and Faith, 5:: “I have always understood the key to issues with Nephite archeology to be language. Besides the fact that there is vastly more to Mesoamerican…”
Steven Borup on In Memoriam: James B.: “Bro Allen was the lead coordinator in 1980 for the BYU Washington, DC Seminar and added valuable insights into American history as we also toured…”
David G. on In Memoriam: James B.: “Jim was a legend who impacted so many through his scholarship and kind mentoring. He'll be missed.”
Recent Comments
Steve Fleming on Study and Faith, 5:: “The burden of proof is on the claim of there BEING Nephites. From a scholarly point of view, the burden of proof is on the…”
Eric on Study and Faith, 5:: “But that's not what I was saying about the nature of evidence of an unknown civilization. I am talking about linguistics, not ruins. …”
Steve Fleming on Study and Faith, 5:: “Large civilizations leave behind evidence of their existence. For instance, I just read that scholars estimate the kingdom of Judah to have been around 110,000…”
Eric on Study and Faith, 5:: “I have always understood the key to issues with Nephite archeology to be language. Besides the fact that there is vastly more to Mesoamerican…”
Steven Borup on In Memoriam: James B.: “Bro Allen was the lead coordinator in 1980 for the BYU Washington, DC Seminar and added valuable insights into American history as we also toured…”
David G. on In Memoriam: James B.: “Jim was a legend who impacted so many through his scholarship and kind mentoring. He'll be missed.”