Call For Papers: Mormons in the Political Arena

CALL FOR PAPERS

DEADLINE EXTENDED

“May These Principles Be Established”: Mormonism in the Political Arena

The balance between church and state has always been a lively and sometimes contentious issue, even, and perhaps especially, in the United States, a country with long-declared freedom of religion. From the time of Joseph Smith’s presidential campaign, through the tumultuous integration of Utah into the wider American political body and up to the present day in which Mormons dot the political landscape, Mormonism has sought to define its relationship to the body politic. In the process, it has raised issues ranging from theocracy to the place of private beliefs in public policy creation.

In order to explore these issues, the Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association (CMSSA) invites all interested graduate students to a conference addressing the theme of Mormonism in the political arena. Unlike traditional academic conferences, this event is specifically designed to provide a select number of graduate students an intensive experience of presentation, stimulating discussion, and small-group mentoring by scholars already in the field (notably Richard Bushman, the Howard W. Hunter visiting professor of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University, as well as additional scholar(s) to be announced on our website in the near future).

The conference will be held April 18-19, 2008 at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. Papers from all social scientific and humanities disciplines are welcomed, as this topic invites exploration from many perspectives, individual, organizational, historical, contemporary, theological, ethical and even international. Similar conferences on additional topics relevant to Mormon Studies are expected to be held biennially.

Paper proposals should be emailed to [email protected] by February 7, 2008 (see proposal information below). Completed papers should be no more than 2,500 words long so as to allow ample opportunity for discussion. Those whose papers are accepted for presentation will be notified by the second week of February 2008. Travel subsidies will be available on a competitive basis.

Paper proposals should include the following:
– Name
– Mailing Address
– Contact Information (phone, email)
– School Attending
– Major Area of Study
– Brief Paper Abstract

Further information will be available as the conference approaches and will be posted on the CMSSA website (rsc.cgu.edu/cmssa/).

Any additional questions should be emailed to [email protected].