Scholars & Saints

Mormonism has been stereotypically conceived of as a patriarchal, heteronormative religion, from its past polygamy to its male-only priesthood. But what happens if you apply a queer studies lens to the faith?This task was taken up by Kalamazoo College's Chair of Religion Taylor G. Petrey in his recent book, Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos. On today's episode of Scholars & Saints, Dr. Petrey discusses the results of such an analysis with host Nicholas Shrum, focusing particularly on deep relationships of care known as kinship. From considering the gendered inter-relations of the Godhead to the role of Heavenly Mother, Dr. Petrey seeks to open up the world of Mormon theology to consider new cosmologies for underrepresented people groups.To find out more about Dr. Petrey and his upcoming projects, click here.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always been a great case study in the limits of religious liberty and tolerance in America. But what can the history of Mormonism tell us about U.S. tax history? According to Loyola University Chicago School of Law Professor Sam Brunson, quite a lot!Kicking off this new season of Scholars & Saints, Dr. Brunson sits down with host Nicholas Shrum to discuss his new book, Between the Temple and the Tax Collector: The Intersection of Mormonism and the State. Dr. Brunson details the rich history of tax law as it relates to the LDS Church, from tithing in Nauvoo to Brigham Young's hefty federal income tax liability. Throughout this history, Dr. Brunson examines specifically how taxable status—notably tax exemptions—are a cornerstone of American religious liberty that tie the church and the state together more intricately than the Jeffersonian doctrine of a "wall of separation" might imply.To find out more about Dr. Brunson and his upcoming projects, click here.

Women have always played a large role in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But how do women today, especially women of color, negotiate their faith through a historically patriarchal religion? And how can western scholars really probe this issue for women around the globe, without enforcing their own pre-conceived paradigms? On this episode of Scholars & Saints, Nicholas speaks with Dr. Caroline Kline, Assistant Director for Global Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University, about her 2022 book, Mormon Women at the Crossroads: Global Narratives and the Power of Connectedness. Dr. Kline engages oral histories from her ethnographic study of Mormon women of color in the U.S., Botswana, and Mexico. In so doing, she presents two major theoretical lenses that look at Mormon women's agency from their own perspective: through connectedness to loving families, strong communities, and a profoundly loving, personal God.To find out more about Dr. Kline and her upcoming projects, click here.

This bonus episode of Scholars & Saints is taken from the Tenth Annual Joseph Smith Lecture, delivered by UVA's new Director of Mormon Studies, Laurie Maffly-Kipp at the Darden Center in Rosslyn, Va on October 19, 2024. Click here for more information about Prof. Maffly-Kipp and her lecture.Each fall, the University of Virginia's Mormon Studies Program sponsors the Joseph Smith Lecture Series: a public lecture on religion in public life, with particular emphasis on religious liberty and civic leadership. The Lecture is designed to honor the legacies of both Thomas Jefferson and Joseph Smith but is not limited to either the American or Mormon experience. If you like or learn from what you hear, we would appreciate your support of the Joseph Smith Lecture Series Endowment Fund.

This bonus episode of Scholars & Saints is taken from the 2023 University of Virginia Mormon Studies research workshop entitled: "Mormonism in Africa and the African Diaspora." During the workshop, biomedical pathologist and LDS historian Dr. Gregory A. Prince delivered remarks on the depth of materials and research potentiality within the Gregory A. Prince Collection, a compilation of historical LDS documents and research materials Dr. Prince donated to UVA. To learn more about Dr. Prince and his collection, watch his interview with former Bushman Chair of Mormon Studies, Kathleen Flake, or browse his digital research excerpts.For more information, including lecture slides and transcript, please visit this link: https://mormonstudies.as.virginia.edu/event/research-workshop-mormonism-in-africa-and-the-african-diaspora-open-to-the-public/

For over a century, the LDS Church forbade Black Latter-day Saints from temple ordinances, and Black men from the priesthood. How did Black Latter-day Saints experience this discrimination, and what effects and consequences of these restrictions carry over to today? On this episode of Scholars & Saints, Nicholas speaks with Dr. Matthew L. Harris, Professor of History and Director of Legal Studies at Colorado State University-Pueblo, about his 2024 book, Second Class Saints: Black Mormons and the Struggle for Racial Equality. Dr. Harris draws from first-hand accounts of Black Latter-day Saints during the temple and priesthood ban, details the Church's past global response to race, explains the reaction of the LDS Church to the Civil Rights movement, and presents the Church's contemporary work at racial reconciliation. To find out more about Dr. Harris and his upcoming projects, click here.

This bonus episode of Scholars & Saints is taken from the 2023 University of Virginia Mormon Studies research workshop entitled: "Mormonism in Africa and the African Diaspora". During the workshop, Dr. W. Paul Reeve, Simmons Chair of Mormon Studies and Chair of the Department of History at the University of Utah, delivered this lecture detailing how data allows us to ask and answer new questions about Latter-day Saint racial history and illustrated his point with his database "A Century of Black Mormons": https://exhibits.lib.utah.edu/s/century-of-black-mormons/page/welcomeFor more information, including lecture slides and transcript, please visit this link: https://mormonstudies.as.virginia.edu/event/research-workshop-mormonism-in-africa-and-the-african-diaspora-open-to-the-public/

How is it that Mormonism can be considered "America's most successful, homegrown religion" and yet have undergone vast assimilation to American culture in the late 19th and 20th centuries? Dr. Benjamin Park, Associate Professor of History at Sam Houston State University, details Mormonism's evolutions and transitions from its inception to today on this episode of Scholars & Saints. Drawing on his book, American Zion: A New History of Mormonism, Dr. Park takes host Nicholas Shrum on a historical tour of Mormon history. He investigates instances of Mormon cultural assimilation, racial relations, educational practices, and the broader role that Mormonism plays in understanding American history and its undergirding religious influences. To find out more about Dr. Park and his upcoming projects, click here.

This bonus episode of Scholars & Saints is taken from the 2023 Ninth Annual Joseph Smith Lecture, delivered by UPenn's Dr. Anthea Butler at the University of Virginia. Click here for more information about Dr. Butler and her lecture.Each fall, the University of Virginia's Mormon Studies Program sponsors the Joseph Smith Lecture Series: a public lecture on religion in public life, with particular emphasis on religious liberty and civic leadership. The Lecture is designed to honor the legacies of both Thomas Jefferson and Joseph Smith but is not limited to either the American or Mormon experience. If you like or learn from what you hear, we would appreciate your support of the Joseph Smith Lecture Series Endowment Fund.

Global Mormonism is an ever-growing field of study for scholars as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership has exploded throughout the Global South, especially in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. But how has Mormonism fared in Europe, especially in historically Catholic nations? Sociologist Hazel O'Brien takes host Nicholas Shrum on a tour of two pseudonymous LDS wards in the Republic of Ireland, mining the deep ethnographic depths of her 2023 book, Irish Mormons: Reconciling Identity and Global Mormonism. Dr. O'Brien details the experiences of real Mormons in Ireland as they negotiate their Irish heritage with a faith other than the predominant Irish Catholicism, and as they relate to a Church still predominantly organized and ruled by Americans. Dr. O'Brien also examines the broader experiences of religious minorities in Ireland, the country's changing socio-religious landscape, and a way forward for Mormonism as it sets it sights more globally.To find out more about Dr. O'Brien and her upcoming work, click here.

How did early Mormons relate with African Americans and Native Americans in the 19th Century West? This is just one of the many questions tackled by the extensive research of W. Paul Reeve, the Simmons Chair of Mormon Studies at the University of Utah. In today's episode, Dr. Reeve discusses his academic journey from Western U.S. history to Mormon Studies, the University of Utah's programs in its Mormon Studies Initiative, and the expanding field of interdisciplinary research between Mormon Studies and racial, cultural, and sexual studies. To learn more about Dr. Reeve's own research, watch his October 2023 lecture at the UVA workshop on "Mormonism in Africa and the African Diaspora" on his "A Century of Black Mormons" database. Dr. Reeve is the author of Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness (Oxford 2015). Additionally, you can find a copy of his most recent book, Let's Talk About Race and Priesthood on Amazon or Deseret Books. And don't miss his upcoming book, This Abominable Slavery: Race, Religion, and the Battle Over Human Bondage in Antebellum Utah, releasing later this year.

What do an archeologist, historian, philosopher, and literary critic have in common? They're all members of the Department of Religion at Claremont Graduate University! Continuing our series on Mormon studies in the academy, Dr. Matthew Bowman, the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at CGU joins host Nicholas Shrum to discuss his own journey to Mormon studies as a trained historian, how Mormon studies emerged as an interdisciplinary field, the history of its foundational authors and scholars, and the current and future state of Mormon studies scholarship at CGU and beyond.  

What is Mormon Studies? How does one do it? In what way does it fit into the broader field of Religious Studies? In this all-new season of Scholars and Saints, UVA Religious Studies Ph.D. student Nicholas Shrum goes back to the basics of the discipline with renowned LDS historian and Utah State University professor Patrick Q. Mason. The two discuss Dr. Mason's personal journey to Mormon Studies, his experience in making it educationally accessible and engaging, and his broader insights into the field.

The mysterious gold plates are the gravitational center of the Latter Day Saint tradition. Although twelve people other than Joseph Smith claimed to have seen or handled the plates, Smith said he returned them to an angel soon after completing the translation of the Book of Mormon. Even now, nearly 200 years later, the plates continue fascinate and confound interpreters in American culture. Today on my last episode as host of Scholars and Saints, I'm chatting with Richard Bushman, renowned biographer of Joseph Smith, about his new book, Joseph Smith's Gold Plates. 

Ryan Ward is a professor of experimental psychology. But during his time serving as a Latter-day Saint bishop several years ago in New York, the needs and concerns of his congregation motivated him to study theology in his spare time. We're chatting today about his recent book, And There Was No Poor Among Them: Liberation, Salvation, and the Meaning of Restoration (Kofford, 2023). We talk about liberation theology, atonement, the nature of God, and Joseph Smith's vision of a covenant community. 

Cory Crawford and Taylor Petrey join me to discuss The Bible and the Latter-day Saint Tradition (Utah, 2023) and the opportunities and challenges of Latter-day Saint biblical studies in the 21st century. 

Today on Scholars & Saints, I'm joined by Mason Kamana Allred to talk about his new book Seeing Things: Technologies of Vision and the Making of Mormonism (UNC 2023). We discuss German media theory, feminist new materialism, cybernetics, microphotography, and spiritual feedback loops. 

Christine Elyse Blythe, Christopher James Blythe, and Jay Burton join me to discuss the scriptures of the Latter Day Saint "diaspora." There are more than 400 branches of the Restoration movement begun by Joseph Smith, Jr., and the prophetic production of written scripture is central to many of them. In this episode we discuss the sealed portion(s) of the Book of Mormon, collaborative scripture writing, Book of Mormon expansion narratives, Sidney Rigdon's Nephite-Eskimo theory, lay revelations about asylums for smokers in heaven, and much more. Join us as we explore the scriptures of the Latter Day Saint tradition.

Dr. Rosalynde Welch, senior research scholar and associate director of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU joins me to talk about the "literary turn" in Book of Mormon studies, postsecular critique, scriptural theology, and her recent book on the Book of Ether. Welch argues that the Book of Ether—a kind of microcosm of the Book of Mormon of which it is a part—presents a theology of scripture that focuses on the interaction between written text, reader, and the Holy Spirit. We discuss the nature of scripture, the "weakness" of God, the Book of Ether's close intertextual engagement with and revision of Pauline notions of faith, and the atemporal nature of the Book of Mormon's Christology.

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Bruce Worthen about his recent book Mormon Envoy: The Diplomatic Legacy of Dr. John Milton Bernhisel  (U. of Illinois Press). Worthen unfolds the little known contributions of Bernhisel, who as historian Matt Grow aptly quipped, seems to "have his fingerprints all over Mormon history during this period." We chat about the 1857 Utah War, Bernhisel's rags-to-riches education at the University of Pennsylvania and in New York City, his status as confidant to Joseph Smith, Emma Smith, Brigham Young, and Joseph Smith III, and much more. Join us to learn about the enigmatic man you've never heard of behind some of the most memorable events in early Mormon history.

In this episode, Professor Adam Miller (Collin College) chats with me about his recent book Original Grace: An Experiment in Restoration Thinking (BYU Maxwell Institute & Deseret Book, 2022). Miller argues that Latter-day Saint scripture's rejection of original sin offers an opportunity to rethink the implications of grace. For Miller, grace—not sin—is what's original. What this means, argues Miller, is that grace is not separate from divine justice. Grace is  justice. 

Dr. Jon Bialecki returns to the show to discuss a recent essay, "The Mormon Dead" that explores why Latter-day Saints do not seek or experience the phenomenon of spirit possession as a feature of proxy temple ordinances performed for their deceased ancestors. We talk about the anthropology of spirit possession, the Godbeite movement, Latter-day Saint kinship, and more. 

In this episode I chat with Professor Joseph Spencer, a philosopher and theologian from Brigham Young University. We talk about Spencer's recent reassessment of Nibley's legacy not as a scholar of the ancient world or of Mormon apologetics, but as a theologian. Spencer unfolds a unique take on Nibley undergirded by extensive research in Nibley's personal papers and correspondence in the archives at BYU. We talk about Nibley's affinity with Christian "neo-orthodoxy," his political theology, his recovery of Brigham Young as a thinker, and his meditations on grace.

Dr. George Handley, Latter-day Saint ecocritic, activist, and professor of interdisciplinary humanities at Brigham Young University joins me to chat about what Latter-day Saint theology says about environmental stewardship. Handley says he hopes he is "planting a tree on the last day of the world."

Dr. James Faulconer, a Latter-day Saint philosopher and theologian now emeritus of Brigham Young University joins me to discuss "performative" or "scriptural" theology and how it helps illuminate Latter-day Saint scripture. In his recent book, Thinking Otherwise: Theological Explorations of Joseph Smith's Revelations, Faulconer argues that Joseph Smith's revelations addressed philosophical enigmas and dilemmas inherited from classical Christian theism, some of which dated back to the Presocratic philosopher Parmenides and his doctrine of the One. 

Courtney Campbell, Hundere Professor in Religion and Culture at Oregon State University joins me in this episode to discuss his recent book Moral Realities: Medicine, Bioethics, & Mormonism (2021, Oxford University Press). We discuss Professor Campbell's three-part normative framework for a Latter-day Saint bioethics which centers on a "restored, re-storied, and prophetic morality." 

Professor Nathan Rees (University of West Georgia) joins me to discuss his book Mormon Visual Culture and the American West. We chat about the role that visual art played in creating, mediating, and interpreting the experiences of nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints on the American frontier. Rees reveals that visual culture is more than just art: its about understanding and negotiating what is real. Join us to hear more about C.C.A. Christensen, The Mormon Panorama, settler colonialism, race, gender, and more. 

Kristine Haglund joins me to discuss her recent book, Eugene England: A Mormon Liberal, the inaugural volume in the University of Illinois Press's new Introductions to Mormon Thought Series. We talk about England's influences, methods, epistemology,  and theology from an intellectual historical rather than a biographical point of view.

Dr. Michael Austin joins me to discuss his recent book Vardis Fisher: A Mormon Novelist. Fisher was the first of the "Lost Generation" or "Golden Age" of Mormon novelists in the early twentieth century. While self-identified as an atheist, his work is suffused with the hues and textures of his Mormon upbringing in rural Idaho. Fisher's work challenges easy categorization of insider vs. outsider. Was Vardis Fisher a Mormon novelist? Join us to find out. 

President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, delivered the seventh annual Joseph Smith Lecture on Religious Liberty on November 5, 2021. His lecture was entitled "Going Forward with Religious Freedom & Nondiscrimination."

Dr. Robin Jensen (Joseph Smith Papers) talks with me about the recently published facsimile edition of the Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, part of the Joseph Smith Papers's Revelations & Translations series. We talk about early Latter-day Saint record-keeping, the relationship between prophetic authority and scriptural texts, and much more.

Professor Kathryn Lofton, Lex Hixon Professor of Religious Studies and American studies, Professor of History and Divinity, and Dean of Humanities at Yale University, joins me to discuss her Smith-Pettit Lecture delivered at the Mormon History Association Conference in June 2022, entitled "A Brief History of the Mormon Smile." We discuss Erving Goffman, affective performativity, American consumer capitalism, and the "missionary grin."

Professor William N. Eskridge of Yale Law School, a renowned expert on the judicial interpretation of statutory law, delivered the eighth annual Joseph Smith Lecture on Religious Liberty at the University of Virginia on September 22, 2022. His lecture, "LGBTQ+ Equality & Religious Liberty: Statutory Principles & The Golden Rule" responded to President Dallin H. Oaks's 2021 Joseph Smith Lecture, "Going Forward With Religious Freedom and Nondiscrimination." Eskridge praised the 2015 "Utah Compromise" statute and identified principles for co-operation between the LGBTQ+ community and religious institutions based on principles similar to those in the Utah statute. 

Amaechi Okafor, PhD Candidate in History at Concordia University, joins me to discuss his ethnographic fieldwork among Latter-day Saints in Nigeria. We discuss the high social costs of being a Latter-day Saint in Nigeria, cultural tensions between Indigenous African cultures and the US-based church, the positive effects of the church's BYU-Pathway program, and the possibilities for an emergent West African Mormon Studies by and for Indigenes. 

Professor John Durham Peters of Yale University joins me to discuss his 2016 essay in Critical Inquiry, "Recording Beyond the Grave: Joseph Smith's Celestial Bookkeeping"

Professor Terryl Givens of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University joins me to talk about the life of Latter-day Saint theologian Eugene England. 

Professor Nathan Oman of The College of William & Mary Law School joins me and Professor Kathleen Flake to discuss the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' incorporation and the role of church corporations in navigating American legal disestablishment

Professor Brenda Weber of Indiana University-Bloomington joins me and Professor Kathleen Flake to discuss how representations of Latter-day Saints have been used in American media for a variety of purposes. 

Professor Elizabeth Fenton of the University of Vermont joins me and guest co-host Professor Kathleen Flake to discuss the "Hebraic Indian Theory" and The Book of Mormon. Where did the Lost Tribes of Israel go after the Assyrian captivity in the Bible? The center of the Earth? Another planet? The North Pole? You decide. 

Rebecca Janzen joins me to talk about the commonalities and differences among Latter-day Saints, Mormon fundamentalists, and Mennonites in Mexico.

Joseph Spencer joins me to discuss Postponing Heaven, a short book by Lebanese Catholic philosopher and theologian that meditates comparatively on human messianicity in Latter-day Saint scripture, Mahayana Buddhism, and Twelver Shiism. 

Professor Jon Bialecki of the University of California-San Diego joins me to discuss what Mormon Transhumanism reveals about speculative thought. 

Jake Johnson joins me to discuss the history of American Latter-day Saints' affinity for musical theater as a mode of religious expression and cultural belonging. 

Professor Sara Patterson of Hanover College joins me to discuss how Latter-day Saints have memorialized their sacred past in the ways they interact with historical sites and memories along the Mormon pioneer trail.

Professor Quincy Newell from Hamilton College joins me to talk about Jane Manning James, one of the first black Mormons in the 19th century. 

The Atlantic's McKay Coppins joins me and Kathleen Flake to discuss his December 2020 longform essay "The Most American Religion" which pauses on the cusp of Mormonism's third century to meditate on questions of American religious belonging. 

Dan Ellsworth joins me to discuss the Latter-day Saint Radical Orthodoxy manifesto. Part 2 of 2.

Christina Rosetti joins me to discuss the Latter-day Saint Radical Orthodoxy manifesto. Part 1 of 2.

Konden Smith Hansen joins me to talk about how 19th-century frontier living shaped Latter-day Saints and how they were perceived by Americans.

Peter Coviello and Kathleen Flake join me to talk about early Mormonism and secularism. We chat about settler-colonialism, race, and biopolitics. 

Ronit Stahl joins me to discuss the role of military chaplaincy (including Latter-day Saints) in changing how the US government interacted with American religions.