Comments on: Of Courses

By: Nushhauts

Nushhauts — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 21:42:25 +0000

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By: BevP

BevP — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:48:55 +0000

dilettante, soz, speaking of plausible…

By: BevP

BevP — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:46:48 +0000

Some of us are even farther away, big water between us, and few resources available up close, even if we speak English as first language. Much as I like the church study programs, as a university lecturer in another field, I’d be out on my ear fairly sharpish if I wanted to teach with a course text that has a reference list that ends about a generation ago. I would really enjoy a focused course of study, on some aspect of Mormon Studies, based in large measure upon recent scholarly research, by those in and out of the Church. My testimony can take enquiry. I just can’t spend the time on it that I need to keep my own research going. I want to be a plausible diletante, I guess, long as I keep working.

We might begin with RSR – I want to read that again anyway, having read On the Road w JS. I know there are many resources to access online, but I just don’t know where to go for what, and probably wouldn’t stick it without someone to account to. It’s a bit like a kid being told to get in there and clean up that messy bedroom – I don’t know how to begin when there’s so much to find. I need someone to tell me the academic equivalent of “right, now go look for all the cars and trucks you can find and put them in this box”. I’d like to have someone to bounce ideas off of for [3 prepositions in a row!] ways to extend beyond the core of the course. Friends are great for sporadic exciting exchanges, but it’s not the same as an organized course framework.

Or we could start a collection of typos in the Penguin BoM that might have interesting but inappropriate inferences made from them, and determine which were in the 1840 edition and which are new to Penguin. And I’m only writing this to avoid marking coursework… but I could get interested in some kind of a course.

By: Rob Perkins

Rob Perkins — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 21:10:37 +0000

So, yeah… Define “most Mormons”. Are “Most Mormons” converts within the last 35 years or so, for example? Do they speak English as a first language? Etc…

By: queuno

queuno — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:52:54 +0000

I hate to say it Che, but your qualifications aren’t terribly impressive to most Mormons.

Whew! I was getting worried there.

You’ve seized on a key point — who among us would be terribly impressive to most Mormons. And be careful with the word “most”. How many Mormons would know who Givens is? And you haven’t quite determined who the right sort of teacher would be for this? There’s a world of difference between, say, Marlin Jensen and Richard Bushman or Sonia Johnson, when you talk about qualifications to talk about Mormon Studies…

By: Jim F.

Jim F. — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:49:32 +0000

Paul S (#37): I don’t know what it would mean for BYU to be adamant to offer courses that are only apologetic. That is the general approach of the College of Religious Education, but it isn’t a university policy. Paulsen’s courses weren’t “on the sly” in any sense because the Philosophy Department doesn’t have the same policy that Religious Ed has (which is a consequence of the mission they’ve been assigned by the Board of Trustees). Any department that wishes to offer a course that would be considered a Mormon Studies course is free to do so. From #41, it appears that a number of them do so. There is no Mormon Studies program, though a number of us wish there were, but there is no university policy against or discouraging Mormon studies. If anything, there has recently been official encouragement for people to do things related to Mormon Studies. That’s one of the goals of the Maxwell Institute.

By: Katherine Morris

Katherine Morris — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:09:21 +0000

Gideon Burton has a list of Mormon Studies courses that have been taught at various universities. It’s not true that BYU does not have Mormon Studies courses, although they certainly don’t have any kind of Mormon Studies program.

Here’s the list: http://gideonburton.typepad.com/gideon_burtons_blog/2008/02/mormon-studies.html

By: Paul S

Paul S — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:50:57 +0000

Kent, I think you’re probably right and my original post was overstatement. I especially agree with your point re Gene England. As far as “help[ing] people like me,” I’ve heard there’s an institute course taught in DC by an attorney that is very analytical and covers such issues as the documentary hypothesis and how this might impact the BoM. The role of the Reformers (Deutornomists) and how the theory that the Reformers removed the corporeal God and the idea that Jehovah (Yaweh) was God’s son and not Elohim might impact an understanding of the BoM (this sounds like Margaret Barker stuff). I wonder if such courses might alleviate the problem you describe (assuming that there are some scattered around the country that take this approach).

By: Kent Larsen

Kent Larsen — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:31:29 +0000

Paul S. (37):
I’ll conceed your distinction between apologetic courses and analytic courses. But I think the apologetic-analytic thing is probably more like a continuum than a duality. Some of the courses at BYU may not be as analytical as you or I would prefer, but I don’t think they are all as apologetic as most Institute courses.

Gene England’s Mormon Literature classes would be a good example, I suspect (I never got the chance to take them). While Gene was very committed to the Church, I can’t imagine him not being intellectually honest. I’m sure that there are a lot more at BYU like him, so at least some of the Mormon Studies courses are likely analytical to some degree.

BUT, none of this helps people like me. I don’t live anywhere near BYU and the courses I want aren’t taught by correspondence anyway.

By: Kent Larsen

Kent Larsen — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:53:13 +0000

Sarah (36):
I like your ideas. You are probably right that it will take a long time for the market to develop for more advanced courses.

I don’t know much about OCW, but I do think some kind of Internet-based course would be attractive (at least to me).