Rosalynde Frandsen Welch is Associate Director and a Research Fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Her research focuses on Latter-day Saint scripture, theology, and literature. She holds a PhD in early modern English literature from the University of California, San Diego, and a BA in English from Brigham Young University. She is the author of Ether: a brief theological introduction (opens in a new tab), published by the Maxwell Institute, as well as numerous articles, book chapters and reviews on Latter-day Saint thought.
Dr. Welch serves as associate director of the Institute, where she coordinates faculty engagement and co-leads a special research initiative.
Education
2004 PhD, Literature, University of California, San Diego
1998 BA, Honors English, with University Honors, Brigham Young University
Books
2020 Ether: A Brief Theological Introduction (opens in a new tab). Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020.
Edited Volumes
Given Thee by My Spirit: Reading Doctrine & Covenants 25. Co-edited with Joseph Spencer. Proceedings of the Latter-day Saint Theology Seminar. Salt Press. Forthcoming
Are We Not All Beggars?: Reading Mosiah 4:4-25. Co-edited with Diana Brown. Proceedings of the Latter-day Saint Theology Seminar. Salt Press. Forthcoming
Articles and Review Essays
2022 “The Secular Syllabus and the Sacred Book: Literary Scholars Approach the Book of Mormon.” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 31 (2022). (Forthcoming)
2021 “On the Foreknowledge of God: Time, Knowledge, Reality, Agency (opens in a new tab).” Yet to be Revealed: Open Questions in Latter-day Saint Theology. Eds. Eric Eliason and Terryl Givens. BYU Studies Quarterly 60:3 [Special Issue] (2021).
2020 “Lehi’s Brass Ball: Astonishment and Inscription (opens in a new tab).” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 29 (2020).
2019 “How to Do Things with Doubt (opens in a new tab).” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 28 (2019).
2016 “The New Mormon Theology of Matter (opens in a new tab).” Mormon Studies Review 4, no. 1 (2016).
2015 “Affinities and Infinities: Joseph Smith and John Milton (opens in a new tab).” BYU Studies Quarterly 54, no. 3 (2015).
Book Chapters
“Epilogue.” Every Needful Thing: The Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Lives of Latter-day Saint Scholars. Eds. Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye and Kate Holbrook. Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2022. Forthcoming
“Lehi’s Parable of the Fruitful Tree.” Approaching the Tree: Interpreting 1 Nephi 8. Eds. Benjamin Keogh, Joseph Spencer, and Jennifer Champoux. Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2022. Forthcoming
“Emma as Church, Emma as Christ: Kingdom and Salvation in Section 25.” Given Thee by My Spirit: Reading Doctrine & Covenants 25. Eds. Joseph Spencer and Rosalynde Welch. Proceedings of the Latter-day Saint Theology Seminar. Salt Press. Forthcoming
“Three Awakenings: Encounter, Exchange, and Salvation in Mosiah 2-4.” Are We Not All Beggars?: Reading Mosiah 4:4-25. Eds. Rosalynde Welch and Diana Brown. Proceedings of the Latter-day Saint Theology Seminar. Salt Press. Forthcoming
2020 “Local Zion: Nibley in Place and Space.” Reapproaching Zion (opens in a new tab). Eds. Nathan B. Oman and Samuel D. Brunson. By Common Consent Press, 2020.
2020 “Theology of the Family.” The Routledge Handbook of Mormonism and Gender (opens in a new tab). Eds. Taylor G. Petrey and Amy Hoyt. Routledge, 2020.
2019 “In Story, the Branch Buds.” A Place to Belong: Reflections from Modern Latter-day Saint Women (opens in a new tab). Eds. Hollie Rhees Fluhman and Camille Fronk Olson. Deseret Book, 2019.