Bringing Together Mormon Humanities Scholars

February 2018

In June, BYU’s College of Humanities convened a two-day summer workshop for up-and-coming LDS humanities scholars to discuss the integration of faith and intellect. Professor George Handley and the committee that planned the workshop wanted to strengthen participants’ faith and provide them with living role models.

Danielle Stewart, a PhD candidate at City University of New York who earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at BYU, says, “I didn’t have any idea what a wonderful cohort of peers I had across the nation in other programs or the fantastic cohort of Mormon scholars I had to look up to.”

Participants, all of whom are graduate students or recent PhDs, came to interact with and hear from prominent thinkers including Terryl Givens, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Matt Wickman, and John Rosenberg. The workshop was possible thanks to Taylor and Tamara Woods, who generously support BYU.

Stewart says, “I had been so wrapped up in my discipline that I hadn’t spent much energy thinking more broadly about trends in the humanities or about academic approaches to Mormon thought and history. Now I feel more inspired to actively work on increasing my faith.”