CMSSA Spring 2010 Student Conference

The Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association is putting on its biannual student conference again this Spring. So... get those proposals in, and start saving your pennies for gas money to get here in April!

CMSSA Biennial Student Conference: Call for Papers

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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 University

Keynote 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 at claremontmormonstudies dot org