The 2009 Summer Seminar
Funded by Mormon Scholars Foundation
The 2009 summer seminar was organized around the topic, "Parley and Orson Pratt and 19th-century Mormon Thought." It was conducted by Terryl Givens and Matt Grow under the direction of Richard Bushman. Our students immersed themselves in the dynamic give and take of early Mormon pamphleteering, discovering in the process many new sources and influences behind key Mormon doctrines. There is no question that after Joseph Smith, Parley Pratt was the most important shaping mind in the church's first generation. He was, in this regard, the Paul of Mormonism.
The pool of applicants for this seminar was once again geographically diverse and highly talented. Because of funding challenges, we had to limit the seminar to a smaller than average number: eight students. We were able to continue our tradition of including at least one foreign student, who hailed this year from Brazil. As in past years, some of the members of the seminar are already making a name in the field of Mormon studies. The symposium we conducted at the end of the six weeks was the best attended to date, with approximately 100 people in the audience. Following is a list of the papers presented: " Parley Pratt and Evolving Views of the American Republic in Early Mormonism;" " Parley P. Pratt and the Evolution of Early Mormon Conceptions of Theosis;" " Spiritual Gifts and Mormon Identity in the Nineteenth Century;" "The Development of the Holy Spirit in the Thought of Orson and Parley Pratt;" "Parley Pratt's 'Mighty Pen' and Satire;" " Divine Embodiment, Human Corporality, and the Pratt Brothers;" " The Development of Parley P. Pratt's Theology of Death;" and "The Gathering of the Jews and the Tribes of Israel in the Minds of Parley and Orson Pratt." Several of these papers were of publishable quality. In fact, a publisher present for the symposium asked if he could publish the proceedings as a volume, but we think it will serve the students better to seek independent venues for their papers. One added feature this year was a performance by professional musicians (and Pratt descendants), playing hymns composed by Parley Pratt.
Having completed a three-year round of seminars (and funding), the seminar is at something of a crossroads. The time has never been more propitious for the continuance of a program like this one. The number-and the quality-of graduate students pursuing Mormon topics continues to grow and is now quite substantial. Circumstances are conducive for an unprecedented quality of scholarly production in the area, and the church has marshaled enormous resources to support Mormon historical research. (Witness only most recently the dedication of the new LDS history library, and the continuing massive funding of the Joseph Smith Papers Project.) At the same time, the resources gathered to misrepresent Mormonism and undermine its faithful membership are similarly without precedent. In such times, the work of the summer seminars appears especially relevant, giving those who participate the opportunity and resources to produce scholarship that is accurate, cutting-edge, and of a quality to shape the growing discipline of Mormon studies in honest and productive ways. If we can maintain and expand funding levels, we anticipate devoting the next few years of the seminar to a study of the formation of Mormon theology.
Past Seminars:
The first series of summer seminars on “Joseph Smith and His Times” ran from 1997 to 2002. In 2003 Claudia Bushman conducted a seminar on “Mormon Women in the Twentieth Century.” In 2006 and 2007 Richard Bushman and Terryl Givens carried the Joseph Smith seminar series beyond the life of the Prophet in seminars entitled: “Mormon Thought 1845-1890: Dealing with the Joseph Smith Legacy;” and “Mormon Thinkers 1890 to 1930.”
Papers from the seminars have been published as working papers by BYU Studies: Archive of Restoration Culture: Summer Fellows' Papers 1997–1999 and Archive of Restoration Culture: Summer Fellows' Papers 2000–2002. Participants in the first series of seminars also compiled an Archive of Restoration Culture consisting of source materials from Joseph Smith’s time related to the distinctive doctrines of the Restoration. The Archive can be downloaded from the BYU Studies website. It is described in Richard Lyman Bushman, “The Archive of Restoration Culture, 1997-2002” BYU Studies, 45, no. 4 (2006), 99-106.
