His name is Ben Park.  He’s studying in a Ph.D. program in early modern American religion at Cambridge, England.  He’s definitely into seeing early Mormonism as a result of 19th century influences. Here is his web page where he lists his publications. http://benjaminepark.com/ He blogs a lot on the “Juvenile Instructor” blog.  You can find his blogs here: http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/author/ben/ Here’s his take on the new Review http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-new-mormon-studies-review/#more-11721 If you want to know his views on how to do Mormon studies... Read more

The new Maxwell Institute has started a blog and a facebook page. http://www.maxwellinstituteblog.org/ https://www.facebook.com/maxwellinstitute They have also announced the board of the new Mormon Studies Review, which will produce one volume a year. http://www.maxwellinstituteblog.org/announcing-the-new-mormon-studies-review-2/ It is crystal clear that for the new Maxwell Institute, Mormon Studies means secular-style studies of nineteenth and twentieth century Mormonism.  No one on the advisory or editorial board has any expertise or interest in in the ancient world, biblical studies, etc.  With this new board of editors, the new... Read more

BYU is ranked #1 in the nation in the hot/smart combo rating! http://www.businessinsider.com/colleges-where-students-are-hot-and-smart-2013-3#1-brigham-young-university-25 D’oh!  That is rating students not professors.  Never mind. Read more

Some thoughtful postings: http://seesangelsinthearchitecture.wordpress.com/ Read more

Joseph Spencer gave two interesting papers at the Mysticism conference of the Mormon Scholars in the Humanities meeting last week.  In them he proposed (if I understood him correctly) that there is a “way forward” in studying the Book of Mormon that can transcend or bypass the ongoing debate over modern or ancient origins for the Book of Mormon.  A second aspect of this type of proposal is often described as “bracketing” truth-claims about the authenticity of the Book of... Read more

Claudia Bushman Teaching Mormon Studies in a Secular World Thurs 28 March 2013, 2 pm B092 JFSB, BYU Read more

Here is the paper I gave at the Mormon Scholars of the Humanities conference Saturday.  (I actually presented only about half the paper because of time limitations.) Note that this is still a rough draft for an oral presentation, and I haven’t added all the references and footnotes. Incoherence of Neomysticism Read more

My paper proposal, “The Pseudepigrapha and Visionary Books” has been accepted for SBL this November. On the other hand, who wants to visit Baltimore in November? Read more

The Expanded Canon: Perspectives on Mormonism & Sacred Texts April 4-5, 2013 UVU Library Lecture Hall (LI120)  http://www.uvu.edu/religiousstudies/upcomingevents.html Read more