Although this is noted at MormonConferences.org, Dr. Bushman asked that I use the JI to advertise this interesting conference on Mormon thought and engineering to be held in March at Claremont Graduate University. So, here’s the info…
The Claremont School of Religion,
The LDS Council on Mormon Studies and the Mormon Scholars Foundation
are pleased to present
Parallels and Convergences
Mormon Thought and Engineering Vision
A conference featuring
keynote speaker Terryl Givens and a panel of LDS engineers
The conference seeks to expand the discussion of Latter-day Saint perspectives on the attributes of God and the potential of man by examining the possible resonance between Mormon and engineering thought. In Mormon thought, God is the architect of the Creation and the engineer of our bodies and spirits. Man, on the other hand, is believed to be capable of growing to become like God. The conference’s governing question is: Where does engineering fit in the convergence of these two realms?
A panel of LDS engineers will discuss topics that include materialism, free will, models of spirit matter, quantified morality, spiritual underpinnings for a space program, the New God Argument, God as a perfect engineer, technical interpretation of Mormon physiology, transhumanism, Gaia and the paradisiacal Earth, and technical advancement leading into the millennium.
Keynote Lecture by Terryl Givens: Friday, 6 March 2009 at 8pm
Conference: Saturday, 7 March 2009 10am-5pm
Albrecht Auditorium in Stauffer Hall, Claremont Graduate University
925 North Dartmouth Avenue, Claremont
Free and open to the public
Will audio be available online ala the SMPT conferences?
Comment by Clark — February 8, 2009 @ 10:58 pm
I strongly doubt audio recordings will be made available.
Comment by The Narrator — February 9, 2009 @ 12:00 am
Man! I would love to be there. Hopefully some transcripts or notes will be available.
Comment by Eric Nielson — February 9, 2009 @ 8:46 am
Thanks for the announcement, Jordan. It’s encouraging to see various disciplines engaging Mormon thought.
If you plan on attending, perhaps you could provide a brief summary of the conference?
Comment by Christopher — February 9, 2009 @ 11:25 am
Jordan, is there a list of who is presenting on Saturday and their topics?
Comment by DavidH — February 9, 2009 @ 2:20 pm
What country (and state/province) is “Claremont” in?
Your announcement assumes some knowledge on the part of the reader. Perhaps the copy writer forgot that the web is a world-wide audience.
Comment by Bookslinger — February 9, 2009 @ 4:01 pm
Bookslinger,
Claremont is located in Claremont, California. It was the first secular university to establish a chair in Mormon studies (Richard Bushman was selected as the first chair).
At a blog dedicated to the academic study of Mormonism, it is expected that readers have a basic familiarity with the ongoings of Mormon studies. It is also expected that infrequent commenters such as yourself don’t come by only to leave snarky comments (i.e. “Perhaps the copy writer forgot that the web is a world-wide audience.”)
Is that unreasonable of us?
Comment by Christopher — February 9, 2009 @ 4:10 pm
Too bad. I really think these sorts of conferences would have more impact if there were audio recordings. On the other hand perhaps not as many would show up then. Still, I think a lot of intellectual understanding of Mormonism never makes it into print where it can achieve wider distribution and thereby analysis. I *personally* think conferences that never make it to print or audio are always somewhat limited since you don’t get to really rigorously consider the ideas.
Comment by Clark — February 9, 2009 @ 5:57 pm
The above conference announcment reminds me of an announcement I once read for a multi-stake event, and the address was given merely as “the stake center”, with no mention of the stake name, or the actual street address.
Jeff Lindsay promoted the conference with a link, and I thought it might be something I’d be interested in. But, you’re apparently just catering to an “in group”, and don’t wish to expand to include those who aren’t already aware of or involved in Mormon Studies. Excuse me. I’ll butt out now.
Comment by Bookslinger — February 9, 2009 @ 8:56 pm
David, I will try and find out if there is a list of presenters. Clark, I will also check on audio recordings.
Comment by Jordan W. — February 9, 2009 @ 9:28 pm
By the way, given the dearth and fairly innocuous content of my blog posts, how is it that so many of them turn controversial? 🙂
Comment by Jordan W. — February 9, 2009 @ 9:31 pm
Bookslinger,
No need to get offended and storm out. You were the one who came here and left a snarky comment. There was nothing wrong with the question you asked, but rather the way you asked it. Surely you’ve been around the bloggernacle long enough to know that your phrasing (“Perhaps the copywriter forgot …”) was snarky. But here’s the information you couldn’t figure out for yourself on the world wide web you chide us for not knowing enough about:
Claremont Graduate University is located in Claremont, California. California is one of the largest states in the United States of America. It is located on the west coast of that country. The USA is located on the North American continent, and the North American continent is located in the western hemisphere of earth. The earth is the third planet from the sun in this solar system. I don’t suppose those outside of this solar system are reading the web or interested in this conference, so I’ll leave it at that. In the future, we will include which city, state, country, continent, hemisphere, planet, and solar system conferences will be held at to accomodate you. Does that help?
Comment by Christopher — February 9, 2009 @ 10:00 pm
Chip, meet shoulder. Get off it, Bookslinger.
Comment by Steve Evans — February 9, 2009 @ 10:12 pm
Claremont is in a magical country called Northeast Los Angeles County. Its king is a powerful shaman named R!ch!rd Bushman (! pronounced as a clicking sound.)
Comment by gst — February 9, 2009 @ 10:18 pm
Hehe, I’m enjoying imagining Richard as both a King and a Shaman.
Comment by David G. — February 9, 2009 @ 10:27 pm
[…] the Juvenile Instructor has also noted, we’ve received an invitation in the […]
Pingback by By Common Consent » Engineering Vision — February 10, 2009 @ 12:04 am
Christopher has it right. There is nothing wrong with the question (“where is Claremont?”).
The gratuitous snarky asides were unnecessary, though. In the time it takes to type a few snarky remarks, you could have just as easily clicked to Google and typed “Claremont Graduate University.”
Why ask the question in a calculated hostile way, when a non-offensive option is just as easy?
Comment by Kaimi — February 10, 2009 @ 2:06 am
The conference will be videotaped, and I imagine that means it will be placed on the internet at some point, but I am not sure. I will provide more information as I received it.
Comment by Jordan W. — February 10, 2009 @ 6:50 pm
My Company, Confreaks, LLC, has volunteered to record the conference and place it online. This conference will have better coverage than any conference in the field of Mormon studies to date. You can check out some of our work at http://confreaks.com.
Comment by Carl Youngblood — February 17, 2009 @ 1:26 pm
The conference website is http://www.mormonism-engineering.org
The presenters are listed, and abstracts and bios will be posted soon.
Comment by ukitect — February 26, 2009 @ 1:21 pm
Just to let everyone know, the keynote has already been posted online and others will follow next week:
http://pc2009.confreaks.com
Comment by Carl Youngblood — March 12, 2009 @ 8:39 pm