Claremont Mormon Studies

VIRTUAL FIRESIDE (ZOOM)
September 18th, 6:30pm PDT / 7:30pm MDT:
Kate Holbrook and the Importance of LDS Women’s History
https://cgu.zoom.us/j/88004586001

Join us for a special evening commemorating the passing of Kate Holbrook, a leading light of modern Church history and a women's history specialist at the Church History Library. We will remember Kate, who passed away in August after a long struggle with cancer, celebrate her career, and talk about the state and future of the study of women's role in Church history.

KATE HOLBROOK, PhD (1972–2022) was a leading voice in the study of Latter-day Saint women and Latter-day Saint foodways. As managing historian of women’s history at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints history department, she wrote, studied, and interpreted history full-time. Her major research interests were religion, gender, and food. Her primary professional activity was to discover, encourage, and celebrate women’s flourishing in the scholarly and spiritual realms. Kate grew up at the feet of the Rocky Mountains and returned there in 2006, to live among the historic sites, cultural currents, and food environments where her scholarship had its roots. She earned a BA in English and Russian literature from Brigham Young University, an MTS from Harvard Divinity School, and a PhD in Religious Studies from Boston University. She was proud wife (to Samuel Brown) and mother (to Amelia, Lucia, and Persephone Holbrook-Brown).

To commemorate her life and lasting impact, we will be joined a distinguished panel of speakers:

MELISSA WEI-TSING INOUYE is a Senior Lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Auckland and Historian at the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She earned her degree in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University. Her book, China and the True Jesus: Charisma and Organization in a Chinese Christian Church (Oxford, 2019) uses a Pentecostal church founded in Beijing in 1917 to understand the history of modern China. She is also the author of a memoir, Crossings: a bald Asian American Latter-day Saint woman scholar's ventures through life, death, cancer, and motherhood (not necessarily in that order) (Deseret Book and BYU Maxwell Institute, 2019).

JESSICA NELSON joined the Joseph Smith Papers as a historian and documentary editor in 2018, contributing to volumes 12 and 14 of the Documents series. She completed a BA in American studies at Brigham Young University and an MS in history at Utah State University. Her thesis, titled “‘The Mississippi of the West’: Religion, Conservatism, and Racial Politics in Utah, 1960–1978,” was awarded the Lester E. Bush Best Thesis Award by the Mormon History Association in 2018. She loves cycling Utah's mountains and spending time with her family.

NICHOLAS SHRUM holds a BA in American Studies from BYU and an MA in Religion from Yale Divinity School. He is now a first-year Ph.D. Student in Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, focusing on American Religions and Mormon Studies. He also currently works as a research assistant for the Church History Department's upcoming book on the history of the Young Women's organization and as the project manager for The Diaries of Emmeline B. Wells.

ROSALYNDE FRANDSEN WELCH is a senior research fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Her research focuses on Latter-day Saint scripture, theology, and literature. She holds a PhD in early modern English literature from the University of California, San Diego, and a BA in English from Brigham Young University. She is the author of Ether: a brief theological introduction, published by the Maxwell Institute, as well as numerous articles, book chapters and reviews on Latter-day Saint thought. Dr. Welch serves as associate director of the Institute, where she coordinates faculty engagement and co-leads a special research initiative.

Join on Zoom using ID: 880 0458 6001 (no passcode required)
https://cgu.zoom.us/j/88004586001
Join early... We can accommodate only 500 guests!

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The Howard W. Hunter Foundation and Claremont Mormon Studies Council are pleased to offer this commemoration as part of our “By Study and Faith” Virtual Fireside series, featuring some of the most distinguished Latter-day Saint disciple/scholars. Our speakers address the compelling issues of our time - issues affecting the lives of all of us who are trying to navigate a life of faith, hope, and charity in a troubled and often divisive world. Prior firesides have included preeminent scholars Richard Bushman, Thomas Griffith, Neylan McBaine, Chase Kirkham, Lisa Olsen Tait, Jed Woodworth, Melissa Inouye, Anthony Sweat, Carter Charles, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Rosalynde Welch, Tammi Schneider, and Joseph Spencer.

VIRTUAL FIRESIDE (ZOOM)
Sunday February 6th, 6:30pm PST / 7:30pm MST: Tammi Schneider and Joseph Spencer: “Reading the Old Testament”

The Howard W. Hunter Foundation and Claremont Mormon Studies Council are pleased to carry on with our “By Study and Faith” Virtual Fireside series, featuring some of the most distinguished Latter-day Saint disciple/scholars. Our speakers address the compelling issues of our time - issues affecting the lives of all of us who are trying to navigate a life of faith, hope, and charity in a troubled and often divisive world. Prior firesides have included preeminent scholars Richard Bushman, Thomas Griffith, Neylan McBaine, Chase Kirkham, Lisa Olsen, Jed Woodworth, Melissa Inouye, Anthony Sweat, Carter Charles, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, and Rosalynde Welch.

This year, Latter-day Saints will be studying the books of the Bible they call the "Old Testament" and scholars call the "Hebrew Bible" in Sunday school. Join Matthew Bowman, Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University for a wide-ranging conversation about these books with two guests.
JOSEPH SPENCER is a professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University and an expert in the Book of Mormon, and TAMMI SCHNEIDER is the Danforth Professor of Religion at Claremont Graduate University, an archaeologist, a specialist in the Hebrew Bible, and active in her synagogue. They will discuss how Jewish people read the Hebrew Bible, what scholarship has revealed about it, and what Latter-day Saints might learn as they study it this year.

TAMMI J. SCHNEIDER holds the Danforth Chair of Religion at Claremont Graduate University. She specializes in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East. She received her BA in Hebrew Language and Literature from the University of Minnesota and her doctorate in Ancient History from the University of Pennsylvania. She is presently the field manager at the archaeological excavation of Tel Akko in Israel. At her synagogue, she is the VP for Events for the Women of Temple Beth Israel.

JOSEPH M. SPENCER is a philosopher and an assistant professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. He’s the author of five books and dozens of articles on scripture, philosophy, and theology. Most recent is his two-volume collection of essays, The Anatomy of Book of Mormon Theology, published last year by Greg Kofford Books. Spencer serves as the editor of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, as the associate director of the Latter-day Saint Theology Seminar, and as a vice president for the Book of Mormon Studies Association. He and his wife, Karen, live in Provo with their five children.

JOIN ZOOM FIRESIDE on February 6th, 6:30pm PST / 7:30pm MST using Zoom ID: 878 4923 0040 (no passcode required)
https://cgu.zoom.us/j/87849230040

Join early... we can accommodate only 500 guests!

VIRTUAL FIRESIDE (ZOOM)
NOVEMBER 14th at 3pm PST / 4pm MST (note new time)
LAUREL THATCHER ULRICH and JENNIFER REEDER: Retrospective on a Year of Church History: Things You May Have Missed in Gospel Doctrine Class

The Howard W. Hunter Foundation and Claremont Mormon Studies Council continue with our “By Study and Faith” Virtual Fireside series, featuring some of the most distinguished Latter-day Saint disciple/scholars. Our speakers address the compelling issues of our time - issues affecting the lives of all of us who are trying to navigate a life of faith, hope, and charity in a troubled and often divisive world. Prior firesides have included preeminent scholars Richard Bushman, Thomas Griffith, Neylan McBaine, Chase Kirkham, Lisa Olsen, Jed Woodworth, Melissa Inouye, Anthony Sweat, and Carter

Join Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and Jennifer Reeder for a wide-ranging conversation about Church history with Matthew Bowman. They will reflect on a year of studying Church history in the Church’s official Sunday school, reflect on how our understanding and knowledge of Church history has developed over the past few decades, discuss how and why some members find Church history troubling, and how Church members can engage with Church history in such a way to cultivate their faith.

LAUREL THATCHER ULRICH is 300th Anniversary University Professor emerita at Harvard University. She is probably best known for A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812, which won the Pulitzer Prize for History and many other awards in 1991. Her most recent book, A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women’s Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870 explores the paradoxical link between the practice of polygamy or “plural marriage” in Utah Territory and the adoption in 1870 of women suffrage. Because of its use of braided stories drawn from early women’s and men’s diaries it received the 2017 Evan Biography Award from the Mountain West Century at Utah State University.

JENNIFER REEDER is a nineteenth-century women’s history specialist on the web team at the LDS Church History Department. She has a PhD in American history from George Mason University, with an emphasis in women’s history, religious history, memory, and material culture. Her dissertation, “Doing Something Extraordinary: Mormon Women and the Creation of a Usable Past” explores the material culture used to commemorate the first fifty years of Relief Society and is pending publication. She is the author of First: The Life and Faith of Emma Smith (Deseret Book, 2021).

JOIN ZOOM FIRESIDE on NOVEMBER 14th at 3pm PST / 4pm MST using Zoom ID: 810 9372 5070 (no passcode required)

https://cgu.zoom.us/j/81093725070

Join early... we can accommodate only 500 guests!

VIRTUAL FIRESIDE (ZOOM)
June 27th, 6:30pm PDT / 7:30pm MDT: Blair Hodges: “The Life of the Mind and Things of the Spirit: Four Lessons Learned from Writers of the Best Books”

The Howard W. Hunter Foundation and Claremont Mormon Studies Council are pleased to carry on with our “By Study and Faith” Virtual Fireside series, featuring some of the most distinguished Latter-day Saint disciple/scholars. Our speakers address the compelling issues of our time - issues affecting the lives of all of us who are trying to navigate a life of faith, hope, and charity in a troubled and often divisive world. Prior firesides have included preeminent scholars Richard Bushman, Thomas Griffith, Neylan McBaine, Chase Kirkham, Lisa Olsen, Jed Woodworth, Melissa Inouye, Anthony Sweat, and Carter Charles.

For the past eight years, Blair Hodges interviewed some of the foremost scholars of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and of religion more broadly as host of the Maxwell Institute Podcast at Brigham Young University. Having recently moved to other projects, Blair looks back in this fireside at interviews that changed his heart and expanded his thinking. What does true forgiveness look like? How can doubt operate as a core driver of one's discipleship? Is it possible to read scripture both critically and religiously? How can apologetics or defenses of one's faith be made stronger?

BLAIR DEE HODGES earned a master's degree in religious studies from Georgetown University in 2013. His thesis focused on intellectual disabilities in Latter-day Saint thought in the nineteenth century. After graduating he served as public communications specialist at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University from 2013 to 2021. He is the former editor of the Institute's Living Faith book series and past host of the Maxwell Institute Podcast. He currently works as communications director at the nonprofit Volunteers of America, Utah. He also serves as podcasting consultant with Claremont Graduate University's Mormon studies program and is developing a new podcast called "FIRESIDE, with Blair Hodges" for the Dialogue Podcast Network.

JOIN ZOOM FIRESIDE ON JUNE 27th using Zoom ID: 974 6923 5012 (no passcode required)
https://cgu.zoom.us/j/96792858660
Join early... we can accommodate only 500 guests!

May 23rd, 6:30pm PDT / 7:30pm MDT: Carter Charles: “The Relevance of Joseph Smith’s Revelations on Baptism for the Dead in Haiti and Madagascar”
Zoom: https://cgu.zoom.us/j/96792858660

The Howard W. Hunter Foundation and Claremont Mormon Studies Council are pleased to carry on with our “By Study and Faith” Virtual Fireside series, featuring some of the most distinguished Latter-day Saint disciple/scholars. Our speakers address the compelling issues of our time - issues affecting the lives of all of us who are trying to navigate a life of faith, hope, and charity in a troubled and often divisive world. Prior firesides have included preeminent scholars Richard Bushman, Thomas Griffith, Neylan McBaine, Chase Kirkham, Lisa Olsen, Jed Woodworth, Melissa Inouye, and Anthony Sweat

On October 1, 1842, two years after revealing that “the Saints have the privilege of being baptized for those of their relatives who are dead,” the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote an epistle to them in which he addresses procedural matters regarding the doctrine. Towards the end of the epistle, which is now Doctrine and Covenants 128, the prophet opens up and exults, “Let your hearts rejoice... Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prisons.” Having personally lost loved ones, including children in infancy, Joseph had every reason to be ecstatic. That unique doctrine in the Restoration was “good news” for him, for the Saints, and for the world. Indeed, as will be illustrated in this presentation with beliefs from Malagassi and Haitian cultures, it is a doctrine that resonates with the innermost desires of people across the world and their efforts to offset the problem of death and to collapse the distances occasioned by death in an attempt to ensure “sociability” or togetherness in this life and beyond.

CARTER CHARLES is a native of Haiti trained in France. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. He has published articles and book chapters on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Francophone world with specific emphasis on France and Haiti.

JOIN ZOOM FIRESIDE ON May 23rd using Zoom ID: 974 6923 5012 (no passcode required)
https://cgu.zoom.us/j/96792858660
Join early... we can accommodate only 500 guests!