“BEGINNINGS”

Rochester, New York; June 8-11, 2023

The 58th Annual Conference of the Mormon History Association will be June 8-11, 2023, in Rochester, New York. The 2023 conference theme, “Beginnings” intends to evoke the many beginnings in Mormon history. Those beginnings include Joseph Smith’s first vision and the establishment of the Church of Christ in upstate New York, but also the many other firsts throughout the faith’s subsequent history. As this American religious tradition has grown from a fledgling church to a global movement with multiple expressions, it has attracted followers and critics, nurtured disciples and dissenters, and generated gatherings and schisms. It has, in many respects, begun over and over again.

Change is a key tenet of Mormonism, from its birth in the fires of the revivals of the early nineteenth century to its introduction of new teachings, policies, and organizations as it expanded its reach and extended its influence. Individually and institutionally, the faith and its practitioners have wrestled with the shifting theological, social, and political issues of American and global history, navigating and adapting in response to slavery and abolition, political opposition toward religious practices, the struggle for women’s rights, the emergence of the United States as a global military and political force, and, more recently, the fight for LGBTQ+ rights and growing political polarization around the world.

The Rochester conference provides scholars the occasion to reassess important moments in Mormon history, as well as to explore how the faith has navigated the changing world it constantly confronted over the course of that history. It allows attendees to walk where Joseph Smith, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, and other such luminaries once walked, and to be materially reminded of the visions, visionaries, and movements that emerged from upstate and western New York. It also invites attention to Latter Day Saints’ historical and contemporary relationships with the region’s indigenous inhabitants. We acknowledge with respect the Seneca Nation, known as the “Great Hill People” and “Keepers of the Western Door” of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, on whose lands the University of Rochester currently resides.

The process of “restoration” so central to the Latter Day Saint movement has been the effort of many women and men. Their respective visions of and interpretations may or may not have aligned with institutional authority or goals. Much of that disagreement has centered around the movement’s beginnings and its ultimate purposes. New and competing ideas and the tensions that developed from them further fostered beginnings through schism, excommunication, reformation, or reorganization.

The 2023 MHA Program Committee welcomes proposals from academic, professional, and independent historians, including international scholars. Though we will consider individual paper proposals, preference will be given to complete panels, with a clear thematic, regional, or chronological focus. Proposed panels should reflect MHA’s ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion. For instance, sessions with presenters comprising multiple institutions, genders, races, ethnicities, and academic positions or ranks are more likely to be accepted than panels that do not. Previously published papers are not eligible for presentation at MHA. We will also accept proposals for a poster session, with preference given to undergraduate or graduate students seeking to share their research on some aspect of Mormon history.

In considering beginnings, we encourage presenters to think broadly and creatively. We invite papers reflecting a range of historical topics and methodologies, including art, literature, and music. We are especially interested in panels focused on a specific beginning in Mormon history, such as those documenting interactions and experiences in a certain place or among a particular people or culture, including Native Americans, African Americans, or the spread of Mormonism globally. Other possible topics could include how individuals or groups influenced or have been affected by various beginnings. Papers could also focus on a pivotal year in the Latter Day Saint past, a reconsideration of the beginnings of a particular institution, program, teaching, or practice, or anything else that aligns with the conference theme.

Please submit your proposed paper, presentation, or panel using a digital form available on the MHA website. This form will include, among other relevant questions, a 300-word abstract for each paper or presentation. CVs will not be required for paper submissions to be considered, but presenters must fill out the submission form completely. Full session proposals should include the session title and a 150-word abstract outlining the session’s theme. Panelists submitting a full session should submit individual forms and indicate the session title and their intended co-panelists. If possible, panels should try to include a confirmed chair and commentator. All interested presenters are required to be MHA members in good standing, with their fees paid and a verifiable membership number. Limited financial assistance for travel and lodging at the conference is available for student and international presenters. Those who wish to apply for this funding may do so upon acceptance of their proposal.

The deadline for proposals is October 30, 2022. Submit your proposals to the program co-chairs through a Google form which can be accessed here. Questions may be sent to the program co-chairs at mharochester2023@gmail.com. Notification of acceptance or rejection will be made by early February 2023.

Christopher Jones and Elizabeth Kuehn

2023 Program Committee Co-Chairs