November 3, 2009
For Immediate Release
For more information: Brian Birch (801) 863-8759, Boyd Petersen (801) 863-8161
University Marketing & Communications: Erin Spurgeon, (801) 863-6807
The UVU Religious Studies Program is hosting its 10th annual Mormon Studies Conference, entitled “Outmigration and the Mormon Quest for Education,” Thursday and Friday in the UVU Library Lecture Hall. The conference begins at 8:30 a.m. Thursday and runs through 3 p.m. Friday.
In 2009, the Pew Forum’s “Portrait of Mormons in the U.S.” determined that Mormons are “significantly more likely than the population overall” to seek a college education. Since Joseph Smith created the School of the Prophets in Kirtland, Ohio, the Church has called members to “seek learning, even by study and also by faith.”
This two-day conference will reflect on the experience of these migrants as they sought to develop themselves and advance the cause of Mormonism through their studies at prestigious colleges and universities. A variety of outmigrants, their biographers and Mormon studies scholars will join together to discuss this phenomenon and its connection to broader questions in the Mormon quest for education. Pertinent questions for discussion include: How has Mormon society been affected and reshaped by outmigration? In what ways have these migrants contributed to social institutions in the United States? What challenges are present as Mormons pursue secular education while maintaining their status as a “peculiar people”?
“Mormons have a religious imperative to pursue education,” said Brian Birch, director of UVU’s Religious Studies Program and co-organizer of the conference. “As Latter-day Saints left the Intermountain West to pursue graduate degrees throughout the country, they impacted not only their local congregations, but greatly contributed to the changing perceptions of Mormons by outsiders. The conference is intended to explore this phenomenon from various perspectives.”
The conference is based on the extensive research of Marian and Wesley Johnson, who have interviewed more than 600 people in 20 cities across the country. The Johnsons will open the conference with presentations on the Outmigration Project and reflect on the results of their findings. Keynote addresses will be presented by Grethe Peterson and Chase Peterson, who attended Harvard University and later served as president of the University of Utah and Jan Shipps, who will present her current research on the development of Mormon education after World War II.
UVU President Matthew S. Holland will also be presenting, with remarks entitled “Best Books and Teachers: The Power of a Broad Search,” Friday 1 p.m. in the Library Lecture Hall.
The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited.
###
