Mormon History, Brazilian Perspective — A Call for Papers

The Brazilian Association for Mormon Studies has issued a call for papers for its 2011 conference, with the theme “Mormon History from a Brazilian Perspective.”

The Brazilian Association for Mormon Studies
Annual Conference 2011
29 January 2011
São Paulo, Brazil
Call for Papers

“Mormon History from a Brazilian Perspective”

For most of Mormon history the Brazilian people were outsiders looking at the major events of Mormon history rather than acting as participants. It wasn’t until nearly 100 years after the publication of the Book of Mormon that the first Mormon missionaries arrived in Brazil, and until nearly 150 years after the founding of Joseph Smith’s church that Mormonism had a significant presence in Brazil. Similar situations are found throughout the rest of Latin America. Even today, many in Latin America experience Mormonism through news of events in the U.S.

The central theme to be addressed in this conference is how Brazilians and others in Latin America have viewed the events of Mormon history and reacted to those events. Topics on this theme might include:
o    Local reactions to the LDS Church’s revelation extending the priesthood to all males
o    Early accounts of Mormonism in Latin American media
o    The effect of news accounts about Mormonism on visa policies
o    Views of Mormonism during the mid 20th Century in Latin America
o    etcetera

The Brazilian Association for Mormon Studies seeks papers and other presentations on these and other subjects for the 2nd Brazilian Mormon Studies Conference, to be held January 29, 2011 in São Paulo, Brazil. The conference will be presented in Portuguese, Spanish and English, with interpreting for those who do not speak the language of each presentation.

We invite those interested to submit proposals for scholarly papers, panel discussions, and other scholarly presentations about any aspect of Mormonism and Mormon culture. While this conference is academic in nature, we encourage submissions from students, non-academics and amateurs who have interesting and well-expressed presentations to make. We encourage those with limited academic experience to make their proposals and submit their papers well in advance so that we may offer assistance in making the presentation of sufficient academic quality.

Submissions may be on any subject, as long as they involve Mormonism, its history, people or institutions in a significant way. Fields of study might include History, Philosophy and Theology, Sociology and Anthropology, and all expressions of culture, including art, music, literature and film. Because academic conferences like this are inaccessible and somewhat unfamiliar to the majority of the audience for this conference, we will accept submissions that have been presented or published elsewhere.

In addition to the academic presentations above, the conference is open to a limited number of non-academic presentations, such as interviews, personal essays, sermons, films, dramatic performances, literary readings, debates, comic routines, art displays, musical performances and other expressions of the Mormon experience for the non-academic portion of the conference.

Submissions

Those who wish to present or organize a session for the conference should submit an abstract of their proposal by August 1, 2010. Abstracts should be approximately 1 page in length (approximately 250 words) and be accompanied by a brief description of the author’s background or a résumé or curriculum vitae. Notification of acceptance by the peer review committee will be sent by September 1, 2010.

Complete versions of accepted papers must then be submitted by December 1, 2010 or the acceptance may be rescinded! Because we provide interpretation of submitted papers, we must receive complete versions, so that interpreters can prepare for the conference. Without this preparation, presentations can take as much as three times longer than planned. Complete papers should be suitable for a reading time of 25-30 minutes (approximately 3,500 words).

Send submissions to the conference organizers at BMSC10 [at] gmail [dot] com

Hotel and travel information

We will provide information on the venue and accommodations through our website by July 1, 2010.