Off and on, there is the venture over to the Mormon Apologetic Discussion Board where the participation is robust, various topics explored, and questions postulated with diverse answers. One particular posting caught the interest of the more creative and authorian side.
Claremont Graduate University is having a submission call for Academic papers that deal with the discussion of Mormon Studies. This is sponsored by the Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association, and will be held in April 23-24, 2010. The Keynote Speaker is Jan Shipps, Professor Emerita at Indiana University – Purdue University and author of Mormonism: Story of a New Religious Tradition and Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years Among the Mormons. Here is the information from the flyer.
The Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association invites papers on any aspect of Mormonism. We particularly encourage submissions regarding this year’s conference theme:
“What Is Mormon Studies? Transdisciplinary Inquiries into an Emerging Field”
April 23-24, 2010
Claremont Graduate UniversityKeynote speaker: Jan Shipps, Professor Emerita, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis
Given the new academic chairs that have been established in Mormon Studies, and the conferences, courses, and programs of similar designation around the world, we are entitled to ask “What is Mormon Studies,” and who studies such a field? Thanks to such interest in Mormonism, the academy now faces, among others, two significant lines of inquiry.
First, Mormonism’s complexities suggest how this religious movement likely resists categorization. Is Mormon Studies a viable new field? Is it even a viable conceptual option for academic examination?
Second, from an academic standpoint, those who study Mormonism will in large part determine what Mormon Studies becomes and how it proceeds. What are the various competing visions for what should be studied and advanced under this rubric? What various aspects of Mormonism will/should be considered appropriate or germane to investigation? What aspects will/should be eliminated from academic inquiry?
As this comprehensive exploration potentially ranges through all disciplines and is therefore a trans- or interdisciplinary endeavor, we invite papers from all possible fields of academic inquiry in exploring these important questions.
Preference is given to student papers. Abstracts of 1000 words or less should be submitted no later than December 31, 2009. Authors will be notified of acceptance by January 31, 2010. Please send submissions or questions to:
conference@claremontmormonstudies.org
Additional information regarding the particular guidelines, I found out the following information from subsequent emails concerning this type of submission:
Timothy,
Thanks for your interest in our Spring conference. The nature of the conference is to seek understanding about Mormon Studies from a transdisciplinary perspective, so the theme encompasses a rather broad field of possible perspectives. We will judge proposals with a rather loose rubric, quite simply: how well will the paper and presentation contribute to an improved understanding of Mormon Studies as a discipline or line of academic inquiry? Presentations will run approximately 20 mins. Papers ought to be chapter-length, abstracts between no more than 1000 words. The papers will be published on the CGU library web site; we are still looking into other modes of publishing the accepted papers. Preference is given to graduate students, based on their current enrollment (program and institution will be announced at the conference). We’ll consider proposals addressing how apologetics relate to Mormon Studies in the greater academic context. Please feel free to submit a proposal and/or advertise our event on your blog.
Best,
Dave Golding
President, Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association
I also inquired about the citation requirements for the paper, according to Mr. Dave Golding, the paper must comply with Chicago Style 15th Edition citation.
For more information, contact using the email conference@claremontmormonstudies.org.
Personally, I will be submitting one myself regarding Mormon Studies and the Emergence of Modern Mormon Apologetics as an Academic Discipline. This will be my first academic writing outside of Kaplan University’s essay projects.
