By Ben PJuly 6, 2011
There has been a lot of books and articles on the First Vision. But the recent article by our own Steve Taysom, which appeared in the newest issue of Sunstone, may be the first that references Mircea Eliade, Jean-Francois Lyotard, and Stephen King. Indeed, Steve’s article is a fresh perspective in a debate that grows old quickly, and he demonstrates how theory—and, more generally, tools borrowed from the interdisciplinary nature of religious studies—can give us important insights on traditional narratives. Part of Sunstone’s “Mapping Mormon Issues” series, where they sponsor a researcher to examine and explain controversial aspects in Mormon history, “Approaching the First Vision Saga” attempts to do three things: first, detail the famous accounts and circumstances surrounding Smith’s 1820 theophany; second, outline how past historians, scholars, and amateurs have approached the topic; and third, hint to what a possibly more insightful framework might be.
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By Ben PJuly 4, 2011
John Adams imagined that America would always celebrate July 1776 as the beginning point of American freedom, but he was off a few days. “The Second Day of July 1776,” he wrote, “will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty.” If Adams was mistaken on the exact date, he was prescient concerning the celebrations. “It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade with shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” Witnessing the pompous proceedings that surround Independence day—especially here in Utah County—reminds me that Adams was certainly at least half-right.
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By Steve FlemingJuly 3, 2011
For me, the best history movies is Revolution, staring Al Pacino. This movie is a little weird from an artistic point of view; it was majorly panned by the critics. However, from a historical point of view, this movie is awesome. The movie is dark and gritty (I think they used all natural lighting), the people are all dirty and it presents an earthy view of the American Revolution.
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By Ben PJune 29, 2011
What follows is the conclusion from my paper “On Mormon Thought and its Context(s): Joseph Smith, Thomas Dick, and the Tricky Task of Determining Influence,” presented at the conference in honor of Richard Bushman a few weeks ago. The paper spends most of its time outlining how the question of Thomas Dick’s influence has been handled in Mormon historiography, the problems with past approaches, and then demonstrates a possibly more fruitful approach. (A very early version of the paper is found here.) Then, in this conclusion, I use the topic as an example of how new frameworks are needed, specifically when engaging the development of LDS thought, in the next stage of Mormon studies. This topic—and even much of my message—has been trumpeted of late (both by myself as well as others), including Richard Bushman’s own concluding remarks at the conference, but it is still an important enough message that it is worth repeating.
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By Steve FlemingJune 25, 2011
We all know of the famous experiment of the subjects that were brought in and told to continue shocking other subjects (whom they did not see) until they screamed and eventually went silent. The experiment was meant to shed light on how a things like the Holocaust happened, that people are willing to do atrocious things under orders. This of course brings up very unpleasant worries of what we would have done not only in the experiment but also in the Holocaust itself.
The Holocaust is very upsetting to me and something I simply do not want to know any more about. So I was quite taken aback when my kids came home from the first day of summer acting workshop and reported that they were going to be enacting the Holocaust.
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By ChristopherJune 20, 2011
(Cross-posted at Religion in American History)
When the news feed on my facebook began to be flooded with links to the same page last week, I excitedly clicked over the the Washington Post On Faith Op-Ed by John Mark Reynolds, professor of Philosophy at Biola University. Reading the title, “Amos and Andy and the Book of Mormon,” I hopefully (but mistakenly) assumed that the article was evidence of Jared Farmer’s critique—that lurking beneath the portrayal of religion in the Book of Mormon musical was not-so-subtle racism in the show’s portrayal of Africans—starting to gain traction.
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By Ben PJune 20, 2011
What follows are my reflections on “Mormonism in Cultural Contexts,” a conference that took place on Saturday, June 18, 2011, in honor of Richard Bushman’s 80th birthday. The organizers—Steve Harper, Spencer Fluhman, Reid Neilson, and Jed Woodworth—deserve many congratulations for putting together such a great event.
Behind the podium in the Springville Museum?s impressive Grand Gallery hangs the impressionistic painting Sunrise, North Rim Grand Canyon (1928). Painted by Mabel Pearl Frazer (1887-1981), a Fillmore native, University of Utah professor, and distinguished artist, the work captures the majestic image of the southwestern landscape. Vivid color denotes that even in the rough, ever-expanding, and imposing land of the Arizona desert, vivacity still permeates the region. ?The vitality of art is life,? Frazer once explained in an Improvement Era interview. ?All great art must have roots deep in a native soil?Things expressed without deep convictions can never be greatly convincing, rarely are they more than bits of superficial pettiness.? Sunrise, North Rim Grand Canyon is perhaps the best representative of her philosophy. While rooted in a precise locality?its title emphasizes the specific time and location of the painting?s subject?it seeks to capture something deeper; it reaches for a broader meaning and more significant message. A critic for the New York Herald Tribune agreed, noting that the work captured ?the mood and texture of the country itself.? This was a painting?and a painter?that refused to be bound to a specific, narrow context.* There couldn?t have been a better backdrop to a conference dedicated to Richard Bushman.
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By ChristopherJune 14, 2011
(cross-posted at Religion in American History)
Over at Religion Dispatches, Jared Farmer, professor of history at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and author of the excellent On Zion’s Mount: Mormons, Indians, and the American Landscape, reviews the multiple Tony Award-winning broadway play, The Book of Mormon.
By all accounts, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s satirical look at Mormon missionaries in Africa is funny. With very few
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By Ben PJune 13, 2011
CALL FOR PAPERS
Brigham Young University
Women?s Studies
Invites proposals for the conference:
WOMEN AND CREATIVITY
Conference date: November 3-5, 2011
Throughout history, women have strived to demonstrate their ability to create lasting literary or artistic works, to find new ways of expressing themselves, to better our world through valuable research and innovative thinking. This inter-disciplinary conference seeks to examine issues related broadly to women and creativity and to bring together faculty and advanced students interested in sharing research on women in the arts, literature and sciences. We invite proposals from literature, visual and performing arts, philosophy, religion, law, social studies, anthropology, sciences, and public health.
Possible themes:
- Literature by women authors
- Women artists, women in the arts
- The Muse
- Creativity transmitted by women
- Representations of women authors or artists in literature, visual arts, popular culture
- Women as promoters of scientific progress
- Women in modernity
- Women in education/pedagogy
- Women and nursing
- Social/Historical perspectives
We invite faculty interested in the conference to submit 300-word abstracts for individual papers on these subjects or other related themes. Advanced students should submit both a 100-word abstract, and an 8-10-page paper. Submissions should be sent by August 15, 2011 to womenscreativityconference@byu.edu.
Submissions should include: a) author(s), b) academic affiliation, c) email address, d) title of abstract, e) body of abstract, f) (for students) an 8-10 page paper. E-mails should include in the subject box: WSC Abstract Submission.
Each presenter will have 20 minutes for the presentation, followed by 10 minutes for discussions. Selected papers may be developed for publication in a themed hard copy volume.
By ChristopherJune 6, 2011
(cross-posted at Religion in American History)
Over at Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought‘s website, the editors have posted a discussion (moderated by Susanna Morrill, associate professor of religious studies at Lewis and Clark College) between noted historians and scholars of religion Richard Lyman Bushman and Robert Orsi. Bushman and Orsi reflect on the potential Orsi’s approach to “supernatural presence” and “abundant events” in modern Catholicism holds for scholars of Mormonism.
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