<\/p>\n
CALL FOR PAPERS<\/p>\n
“Reconciliations and Reformulations”:
\nA Conference for LDS Graduate Students in Religious Studies
\nHarvard University, February 20-21, 2009<\/p>\n
Many Latter-day Saints experience their scholarship and their religion as
\nclashing cultures, each with its competing values and contradictory
\nconclusions. Religious studies students especially struggle to reconcile their
\nfaith and the knowledge they acquire in graduate school. The forms this
\nreconciliation take?including the failure to achieve reconciliation?become
\ncrucial episodes in a student?s life history. The purpose of the Faith and
\nKnowledge Conference for 2009 is to provide a forum for exploring these
\nattempts at reconciliation.<\/p>\n
We invite paper proposals from graduate students in religious studies and other
\nrelated fields in the following four categories:<\/p>\n
I. Gender and Sexuality
\nThe academic discipline of religion is interacting more and more with
\nmethodologies and theories borrowed from gender and sexuality studies. As LDS
\nscholars, to what extent do we engage in or disregard these methodologies? Can
\nwe take more expansive views of homosexuality, feminism, and other related
\nissues than Mormon theology traditionally does without compromising our faith?
\nCan feminist theology, queer theory, and similar approaches be useful to LDS
\nscholars or must they be rejected altogether? How do more traditional
\nviewpoints inform our academic scholarship, and how may the more expansive
\ncontemporary views of such issues inform both our academic scholarship and our
\nunderstanding of the Gospel? Is reconciliation possible (or even needed)
\nbetween these academic paradigms and the faith of the LDS scholar?<\/p>\n
II. Scripture
\nLDS scholars commonly perceive a tension between ?academic? and
\n?devotional? approaches to scripture. Can scholarly methodologies (the
\nhistorical-critical method, literary criticism, etc.) be usefully incorporated
\ninto the study or interpretation of LDS scripture, both ancient and modern, or
\nmust they be abandoned or subordinated to faith-based understandings? What
\ninvestments do LDS scholars of scripture bring to the academic table and in
\nwhat ways do they manifest themselves in productive or unproductive ways in LDS
\nscholarship? Can academic approaches to the Bible be helpful in the study of
\nrevealed scripture, and if so, do they require some kinds of reconciliations or
\ntransformations? Is there and\/or should there be a unique LDS scriptural
\nhermeneutic, and what would it look like?<\/p>\n
III. Pluralism
\nThe approaches of religions to their own truth-claims may be divided into three
\ncategories: exclusivist religions, which assert that theirs is the sole bearer
\nof truth and salvation; inclusivist religions, which recognize that other
\ntraditions possess enough truth to qualify them for salvation; and finally,
\npluralist religions, which hold that all traditions are equal paths to God. In
\na time of globalization, Latter-day Saint interactions with other religions,
\nboth Christian and non-Christian, raise questions about our view of ourselves.
\nAs we learn to appreciate the depth of other religious traditions, we wonder if
\nour exclusivist view on truth is sustainable and defensible. How do we react to
\nthe theological and political dilemmas that exclusive claims to salvation
\nthrough Jesus Christ or through Mormon rituals entail? Can a Mormon pluralism
\nexist, or must we take on the burden of exclusivism?<\/p>\n
IV. The Place of Religious Scholarship in the Church
\nReligious scholars and scholarship occupy an ambiguous role in the Church.
\nReligious scholarship is cited when it supports Church teachings but rejected
\nwhen it suggests that Church positions may be problematic. Moreover, the
\nscholar who raises questions of this find falls under suspicion. Given current
\nChurch culture, what can an LDS scholar of religion bring to the table? Can a
\nscholar utilize his\/her tools and scholarship in a pastoral role? Can LDS
\nreligious scholars work to remove the stigma in the Church associated with the
\nacademic study of religion ? and especially the academic study of Mormonism?
\nSpecifically, in what ways can areas of religious scholarship contribute
\npositively to the spiritual and cultural life of the Church?<\/p>\n
Panelist papers or presentations should last approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
\nShort proposals (no more than 250 words) should be submitted via the conference
\nwebsite (http:\/\/www.faithandknowledge.org\/submissions.php) by OCTOBER 1, 2008.
\nPresenters will be notified by December 1, 2008. Conference participants will
\nbe eligible to apply for financial assistance with travel and lodging expenses.
\nPlease send further inquiries about to the conference to
\norg@faithandknowledge.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mormon-studies"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4670"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6295,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4670\/revisions\/6295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}