“From the Director’s Desk,” where Spencer Fluhman discusses the Institute’s direction and ongoing work. Follow him on Twitter @spencerfluhman.
I’m very pleased to announce that videos of last month’s Mormonism in the Academy scholars’ colloquium are available on the Maxwell Institute’s website and YouTube channel.The event surpassed my fondest expectations—as you watch and listen, you’ll likely agree that the depth and variety of the presentations made for a remarkable gathering. It provided an opportunity for us to celebrate a titan of LDS scholarship, Richard Lyman Bushman, but Richard himself made sure the colloquium pursued a broader agenda. The presentations brilliantly ranged across topics and disciplines and the two days left me pleasantly dizzy. I’m confident that everyone who cares about LDS intellectual life will find something interesting.As I said in my opening remarks, the Maxwell Institute was honored to host, in part because of how seriously we attend to the “Mormon” side of Mormon studies. Not all institutions take that overlap between the religiously practicing and academic communities as integral to their work, but we certainly do. To have so many Latter-day Saint scholars probing the borderland between the life of faith and the life of the mind—and with such precision and care—was a gift indeed, both personally and institutionally.Perhaps most memorably, we were reminded by our eminent commentators from other faith traditions that Latter-day Saints are hardly alone in this important sojourn of reason and faith. It was gratifying to have such insightful fellow-travelers along for the ride.So, I give special thanks again to Professor Bushman for his contributions, to our institutional and individual sponsors, and to those who contributed from the podium and audience. We had a wonderful turnout.Enjoy these videos, but keep in mind our work on this colloquium isn’t finished yet. The speakers are busy revising their presentations for the Institute’s forthcoming book on Mormonism in the academy. You can follow updates on Facebook, Twitter, and the MI Blog. (At the bottom of our website you’ll see a place to subscribe to blog updates by email.)One more thing. If you see can see the great value of the Institute’s work, I invite you to consider making a donation. We have so much important work to do!