Philip L. Barlow introduces the 2017 Symposium. See more photos on Twitter and Instagram.
The symposium for the 2017 Summer Seminar on Mormon Culture wrapped up yesterday at Brigham Young University. Terryl Givens and Philip Barlow directed this year’s group of twelve scholars who focused on the subject, “Mormonism Engages the World.”The Maxwell Institute is thrilled that we have the opportunity to co-sponsor these seminars along with the Mormon Scholars Foundation. These gatherings provide an excellent setting to nurture disciple-scholars. We express our appreciation to the Mormon Scholars Foundation, and to the excellent participants who spent the summer with us at the Institute. Their presentations ran the gamut—from food storage and survivalist movements, to Mormon suffragettes protesting war, to 1950s women’s swimwear designed by a fascinating Mormon, and much more. You can see the full lineup here.A lot of people have asked whether yesterday’s symposium will be available in audio or video. For now, the answer is no (sorry!), but there’s a good explanation! The symposium is somewhat unique among events the Maxwell Institute co-sponsors. Researchers prepare working papers—meaning they represent preliminary research. Following the seminar, participants refine their papers. Some seek professional publication. Articles based on working papers have appeared in academic journals and even books from university presses. We don’t want to scoop the researchers! We follow their lead.But that doesn’t mean you’re totally out of luck if you had to miss the symposium. First, you can check out these notes about some of the presentations, courtesy of WVS at By Common Consent. But ultimately, we encourage all participants to include their working papers in our Summer Seminar archive. It includes papers going back to 2006 when the seminar first came to the Institute. Over the coming weeks and months we’ll be adding working papers from this year’s symposium. You’ll also be able to meet some of the participants, learn about their experiences and research at the seminar, on an upcoming episode of the Maxwell Institute Podcast.P.S.—Terryl Givens concluded the symposium yesterday by teasing next year’s subject: Mormonism and science. We’re looking forward to it already. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and here on the blog (you can subscribe to email updates at the bottom of the page), where we’ll keep you updated.