Global Mormon Studies 2023 Online Conference

The session and event sessions below include links to Zoom meetings and Slack channels related to the session. However, for Zoom links to work, you will need the passcode provided to registered attendees; likewise, you will not be able to access the Slack channel without the join link that is provided to registrants. Please check your registration email for the passcode; alternatively, a direct link to each Zoom meeting can be found in Slack. If you haven’t already, you can register for the conference at this link.

Asynchronous Business Meeting

 

Throughout the conference, there will be an asynchronous GMS business meeting taking place in the #business-meeting channel in the GMS 2023 Slack workspace.

 

Asynchronous Sessions

 

Asynchronous sessions will be prerecorded and released on Monday, May 29th for registered participants to view at any time. There will also be a number of conversation starters in Slack as well as other opportunities to add social elements to the conference. To encourage a social atmosphere in between the synchronous sessions, GMS 2023 will be offering 3 $100 USD “asynchronous star” awards to those who step up and make GMS 2023 happen!

Writing, Language, and Memory

 

Kelly Eggertsen, “The Stories That We Tell”: Mormon Women, Autobiography, and the Mormon Collective Memory of Persecution as Influenced by The Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt

Bruce Van Orden, W. W. Phelps and Parley P. Pratt: Purveyors of Exuberant Language in Print in Early Mormonism

 

This session will explore the influence of Parley P. Pratt and W. W. Phelps on Mormon language and memory. Kelly Eggertsen will explore autobiographies of three Mormon women as well as the ways they are influenced by a collective memory produced by Pratt. She will argue that factors such as distance, ideology, and narrative features influence response to collective memory. Bruce Van Orden will consider the influence of Pratt and his contemporary Phelps in early Mormon writing and evangelism. In particular, he will draw attention to the effectiveness and the similarity of their work.

 

The Digital and the International

 

Spencer P. Greenhalgh and Ray Celeste Tanner, Geographical and Digital Borders in the Community of Christ Toronto Congregation

 

This session will consider the intersection of digital religion and international religion within the Restoration tradition. Spencer Greenhalgh and Ray Celeste Tanner will present a summary of YouTube and Facebook data related to the streamed services of Community of Christ’s Toronto congregation. They will argue that establishing a digital congregation has allowed the Toronto congregation to transcend some geographical and linguistic boundaries—but that this has also introduced digital boundaries that congregations and denominations must navigate as they increasingly rely on the internet.

 

Synchronous Sessions

Please note that session times are listed in 24-hour time and in multiple time zones; please ensure that you have the proper time recorded!

Keynote 1

The Zoom meeting for this session can be accessed here; you can also discuss this session before, during, and after the meeting in this Slack channel. Spencer Greenhalgh will be hosting the Zoom meeting.

18:00-18:50, June 1 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
20:00-20:50, June 1 (New York/Toronto)
02:00-02:50, June 2 (Paris/Warsaw)
03:00-03:50, June 2 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
08:00-08:50, June 2 (Shanghai/Perth)
12:00-12:50, June 2 (Auckland/Suva)

 

Patricia Fortuny, Women and Men Mayan, Mexican, and Mormons Dealing with Religious and Cultural Translation

 

Based on ethnography done in various places in the state of Yucatán, México, first in the course of the 1980s and later on during the second decade of the xxi century, I discuss a number of issues related to women and men converts who became the first generation of Yucatec Mormons. For example, during the late 1980s I researched a community in the capital city of the state, Merida. Here I found that some of the males that I interviewed stated firmly their ethnical identity as Maya people, who had become protestants a few years previously to meeting the LDS ́ Church. They also expressed in many ways not only a profound pride in being Maya but also were able to associate using different strategies in linking their Mayanness with being a Mormon. Listening to their statements and observing their mostly positive attitudes towards their new faith, it crossed my mind that it must have been easier for them –than for women- to translate their Mayan culture and previous Protestant religion into Mormonism. On the other hand, between 2011 and 2013, in the city of Tizimín, the anthropologist Carla Collí studied a community of LDS that converted in 1975. Collí focused on Yucatec women who had been Catholics before their conversion. Most of the female said in their conversations with Collí that in order to internalize, experience, and above all practice what they considered generally strict norms of their new faith, they had to struggle a lot to be able to get through a powerful and all-embracing social and cultural Catholic environment.

 

Social Hour 1: Welcome Chat

The first GMS 2023 social hour will be a welcome chat; everyone is welcome to sign in to Slack, join this channel, introduce themselves, and get to know each other. Attendees may come for as long or as little as they like!

19:00-19:50, June 1 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
21:00-21:50, June 1 (New York/Toronto)
03:00-03:50, June 2 (Paris/Warsaw)
04:00-04:50, June 2 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
09:00-09:50, June 2 (Shanghai/Perth)
13:00-13:50, June 2 (Auckland/Suva)

 

 

 

Session 1: Indigenous Perspectives on the Meanings of “Lamanite”

The Zoom meeting for this session can be accessed here; you can also discuss this session before, during, and after the meeting in this Slack channel. Michelle Graabek will be hosting the Zoom meeting.

11:30-12:50, June 2 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
13:30-14:50, June 2 (New York/Toronto)
19:30-20:50, June 2 (Paris/Warsaw)
20:30-21:50, June 2 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
01:30-02:50, June 3 (Shanghai/Perth)
05:30-06:50, June 3 (Auckland/Suva)

 

Eduardo Pagán, Daniel Hernandez, Farina King, Stephanie Griswold, Michael Ing, Monika Crowfoot, and Sarai Silva

 

This roundtable features participants and contributors to an ongoing workshop and consortium of public intellectuals who focus on “Indigenous Perspectives on the Meanings of ‘Lamanite’” in their work and lives. Participants come from different backgrounds in terms of religious beliefs, race, ethnicity, academic training, professions, and upbringing. The objective of these workshops and gatherings are to support a community of scholars with Indigenous ties who are interested in reflecting collaboratively on the discourses of “Lamanite” and Indigenous interpretations of the Book of Mormon and Mormonism more broadly. Participants are committed to strong connections with Indigenous communities, while developing work that relates to these discourses. They seek to bridge Indigenous, religious, and Mormon studies as well as academia and community. In the roundtable, participants will reflect on and highlight how the workshop has influenced their work and ongoing scholarship, especially considering the impacts of dialogue and collaboration.

 

Session 2: Settler Colonialism

The Zoom meeting for this session can be accessed here; you can also discuss this session before, during, and after the meeting in this Slack channel. Farina King will be hosting the Zoom meeting.

13:00-13:50, June 2 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
15:00-15:50, June 2 (New York/Toronto)
21:00-21:50, June 2 (Paris/Warsaw)
22:00-22:50, June 2 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
03:00-03:50, June 3 (Shanghai/Perth)
07:00-07:50, June 3 (Auckland/Suva)

 

Hemopereki Simon, Rolling Our Eyes Towards God: A Mediation on the Issues Arising from Mormon Missionary YouTube Activity and the Cultural Appropriation of Haka

Kael Moffat, Mormon Settler Colonialism, the Brigham Young Monument, and Indigenous Elimination

 

This session will address issues of settler colonialism as it relates to historical and contemporary Mormonism. Hemopereki Simon will analyze the case of a “Mormon missionary haka” created in Australia, discussing how it fits into longstanding patterns of cultural appropriation. This single case will contribute to a broader argument about relationships between the LDS Church and indigenous peoples. Kael Moffat will offer a reading of the Brigham Young Monument at Temple Square. He will relate this to previous work by Elise Boxer (Assiniboine & Sioux) and discuss implications for Mormon theology.

 

Session 3: Different Cultures, Different Experiences

The Zoom meeting for this session can be accessed here; you can also discuss this session before, during, and after the meeting in this Slack channel. Melissa Inouye will be hosting the Zoom meeting.

14:00-14:50, June 2 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
16:00-16:50, June 2 (New York/Toronto)
22:00-22:50, June 2 (Paris/Warsaw)
23:00-23:50, June 2 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
04:00-04:50, June 3 (Shanghai/Perth)
08:00-08:50, June 3 (Auckland/Suva)

 

Jason Palmer, “And They Call Our Homes Broken?” Peruvian Mormon Abundance within Nuclear Family Scarcity

Amaechi Okafor, A Different Prison: Black Mormons in Canada

 

This session will consider tensions between North American cultures and Mormons from other cultures. Jason Palmer will consider cultural differences between North American conception of the family and other family models prevalent in Spanish-speaking societies. In particular, he will argue that although Peruvian Mormons paid lip service to their church’s teachings about the family, they opposed those teachings through resilient practice. Amaechi Okafor will present conclusions based on conversations with migrant Mormons living in Canada. He will address questions of isolation, assimilation, and implications for religious practice.

 

Keynote 2

The Zoom meeting for this session can be accessed here; you can also discuss this session before, during, and after the meeting in this Slack channel. David Howlett will be hosting the Zoom meeting

18:00-18:50, June 2 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
20:00-20:50, June 2 (New York/Toronto)
02:00-02:50, June 3 (Paris/Warsaw)
03:00-03:50, June 3 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
08:00-08:50, June 3 (Shanghai/Perth)
12:00-12:50, June 3 (Auckland/Suva)

 

Michael Ing, “How Can we Ask Which Way is Best if We do Not Know the Ancient Stories of our Beloved Lands?”

 

Joseph Mokuʻōhai Poepoe is a towering intellectual from late 19th and early 20th century​‌ Hawaiʻi—producing more written work than any other person writing in Hawaiian. He wrote on everything from law, to histories of Hawaiʻi, to long traditional epics, to translations of English tales, to many things about Mormonism (including translating the Doctrine and Covenants and half the Book of Mormon). He was an active member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an active member of the intellectual scene of his time. This presentation will discuss the life of Joseph Poepoe, focusing on his work about Mormonism.

 

Social Hour 2: Maxwell Institute

The second GMS 2023 social hour will be hosted by the Maxwell Institute. Take some time prior to this event to watch the video about the Institute recorded by Rosalynde Welch. Dr. Welch will be present during this social hour to answer questions. Join the channel here to participate. Attendees may stay as long or as little as they like.

19:00-19:50, June 2 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
21:00-21:50, June 2 (New York/Toronto)
03:00-03:50, June 3 (Paris/Warsaw)
04:00-04:50, June 3 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
09:00-09:50, June 3 (Shanghai/Perth)
13:00-13:50, June 3 (Auckland/Suva)

 

 

 

Session 4: Mormonism in Multicultural Settings

The Zoom meeting for this session can be accessed here; you can also discuss this session before, during, and after the meeting in this Slack channel. Farina King will be hosting the Zoom meeting.

20:00-20:50, June 2 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
22:00-22:50, June 2 (New York/Toronto)
04:00-04:50, June 3 (Paris/Warsaw)
05:00-05:50, June 3 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
10:00-10:50, June 3 (Shanghai/Perth)
14:00-14:50, June 3 (Auckland/Suva)

 

Harry Bawono, De-stigmatization of the Mormon Christians Community: Mormon Christians and Mainstream Christians Community in Indonesia: Constructing Collective Understanding

Brenton Griffin, “Banned In Using Their [Own] Language”: The Termination of Samoan-Language Congregations in Brisbane, Australia and the Subsequent Legal Challenges

 

This session will explore how Mormonism responds to multicultural sessions, including both intrareligious and interreligious interactions. Harry Bawono will discuss the stigmatization of Mormons in Indonesia and efforts to overcome that stigmatization. He will describe the ways that Mormon Christians have made common cause with the broader Christian community in Indonesia and interacted with other institutions. Brenton Griffin will describe legal and other consequences of the LDS Church’s closing of Samoan-language units in Brisbane, Australia. In particular, he will argue that Mormon officials underestimated the need for language-specific congregations and the attention that has been brought to the LDS Church because of this event.

 

Session 5: Oral Histories

The Zoom meeting for this session can be accessed here; you can also discuss this session before, during, and after the meeting in this Slack channel. Farina King will be hosting the Zoom meeting.

21:00-21:50, June 2 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
23:00-23:50, June 2 (New York/Toronto)
05:00-05:50, June 3 (Paris/Warsaw)
06:00-06:50, June 3 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
11:00-11:50, June 3 (Shanghai/Perth)
15:00-15:50, June 3 (Auckland/Suva)

 

Caroline Kline and Shiloh Logan, Podcasting Global Mormonism: Ethics Representation, and Identity

Stacilee Ford, “In the Global Scheme of Things”: Dwelling in the Archive of the Claremont Mormon Women’s Oral History Project, and the Claremont Global Mormon Oral History Project

 

This session will address findings drawn from oral history projects coordinated by the Mormon Studies program at Claremont Graduate University. Caroline Kline and Shiloh Logan will focus on the This Global Latter-day Life podcast based on oral histories. They will use this podcast as a platform to reflect on broader questions about global Mormonism, ethics, and digital humanities. Stacilee Ford will draw from and reflect on The Claremont Mormon Women’s Oral History Project and the Claremont Global Mormon Project as part of her presentation. She will both address what has been learned from these projects and reflect on the projects as a whole.

 

Social Hour 3: Claremont Graduate University

The third GMS 2023 social hour will be hosted by Claremont Graduate University. Take some time prior to this event to watch the video about CGU recorded by Caroline Kline. Dr. Kline will be present during this social hour to answer questions. Join the channel here to participate. Attendees may stay as long or as little as they like.

22:00-22:50, June 2 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
00:00-00:50, June 3 (New York/Toronto)
06:00-06:50, June 3 (Paris/Warsaw)
07:00-07:50, June 3 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
12:00-12:50, June 3 (Shanghai/Perth)
16:00-16:50, June 3 (Auckland/Suva)

 

 

 

Session 6: Common Languages

The Zoom meeting for this session can be accessed here; you can also discuss this session before, during, and after the meeting in this Slack channel. Michelle Graabek will be hosting the Zoom meeting.

07:00-07:50, June 3 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
09:00-09:50, June 3 (New York/Toronto)
15:00-15:50, June 3 (Paris/Warsaw)
16:00-16:50, June 3 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
21:00-21:50, June 3 (Shanghai/Perth)
01:00-01:50, June 4 (Auckland/Suva)

 

Erika McCombs and LaShawn Williams, Striving Towards Siblinghood in Christ: Finding Common Language for Conversations about Race

James Holt, Lost in Translation: The Problems of a Shared Religious Lexicon

 

This session will consider both the need for a common language within Mormonism and the difficulties created by the common language between Mormonism and other religious traditions. Erika McCombs and LaShawn Williams will discuss the need for shared language in doing anti-racist work within Mormon contexts. However, they will also discuss the limitations of language and the ways language is used to impede this work. Similarly, James Holt will address the ways that religious language is used to both emphasize similarities and establish difference between Mormonism and other religious traditions. He will argue for the need to be clearer when using and choosing language.

 

Keynote 3

The Zoom meeting for this session can be accessed here; you can also discuss this session before, during, and after the meeting in this Slack channel. Melissa Inouye will be hosting the Zoom meeting.

08:00-08:50, June 3 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
10:00-10:50, June 3 (New York/Toronto)
16:00-16:50, June 3 (Paris/Warsaw)
17:00-17:50, June 3 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
22:00-22:50, June 3 (Shanghai/Perth)
02:00-02:50, June 4 (Auckland/Suva)

 

Marie-Therese Mäder, “The Real Wedding for Us Was the One up in the Temple:” Memories and Mediatisation of Wedding Places

 

In our memories important moments are often strongly connected to where they happened. Therefore, it is not surprising wedding selecting the location of the ceremony is central. For the event and rite de passage should be remembered. Popular wedding locations may vary: synagogues, temples, churches, mosques, registry offices, or outdoor settings such as a beach, a public park, or a private garden. Yet, most of the time the wedding location is chosen for very specific and carefully considered reasons. It may be that the place was chosen because it evokes spiritual experiences, or the location itself is perceived to be particularly beautiful. Alternatively, it may be that the couple connects the place with a shared history, or family tradition may set the location

Based on 27 qualitative semi structured interviews in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland the focus of the current talk is on the significance, depiction, and memory of wedding locations. How is the wedding location staged in photos and videos, and how is the wedding venue emotionally and ethically valorized in the memories of the couples? How do couples describe their spatial experience during the wedding ceremony? The talk provides insights into an ongoing research project about the role of wedding photos and videos in remembering this rite de passage and the mediatisation of weddings.

 

Social Hour 4: Church History Department

The fourth GMS 2023 social hour will be hosted by the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Take some time prior to this event to watch the video about the CHD recorded by Keith Erekson. Dr. Erekson will be present during this social hour to answer questions. Join the channel here to participate. Attendees may stay as long or as little as they like!

09:00-09:50, June 3 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
11:00-11:50, June 3 (New York/Toronto)
17:00-17:50, June 3 (Paris/Warsaw)
18:00-18:50, June 3 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
23:00-23:50, June 3 (Shanghai/Perth)
03:00-03:50, June 4 (Auckland/Suva)

 

 

 

Session 7: Global Mormonism in Literature and Writing

The Zoom meeting for this session can be accessed here; you can also discuss this session before, during, and after the meeting in this Slack channel. Melissa Inouye will be hosting the Zoom meeting.

10:00-10:50, June 3 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
12:00-12:50, June 3 (New York/Toronto)
18:00-18:50, June 3 (Paris/Warsaw)
19:00-19:50, June 3 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
00:00-00:50, June 4 (Shanghai/Perth)
04:00-04:50, June 4 (Auckland/Suva)

 

Ryan Davis, Making Sense of Mormons in 20th-century Spanish Pulp Westerns

Kent Larsen, Mistranslation for a Strange Land: Afonso Celso Júnior’s Encounter with Mormonism

Michelle Graabek, “The Golden Harp”: Poetry in the Danish-Norwegian Newspaper Bikuben, 1876-1935

 

This session will address the way that global literature and writing has engaged with Mormonism. Ryan Davis will describe how Mormonism is invoked in 20th-century Spanish literature, describing Spanish literature as more ambivalent about Mormonism than North American writing. Kent Larsen will describe Brazilian journalist Afonso Celso Júnior’s encounter with Mormonism in the late 19th century; although Celso’s reputation makes his account of this encounter relevant, Larsen will also describe the misunderstandings present in the account. Michelle Graabek will consider poetry in Bikuben, a Danish-Norwegian newspaper published for Scandinavian Mormons in Utah; in particular, she will describe how sources like these have been underappreciated in scholarship and what they contribute to Mormon literature.

 

Session 8: Translation of Latter-day Saint Scripture

The Zoom meeting for this session can be accessed here; you can also discuss this session before, during, and after the meeting in this Slack channel. Spencer Greenhalgh will be hosting the Zoom meeting.

11:00-11:50, June 3 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
13:00-13:50, June 3 (New York/Toronto)
19:00-19:50, June 3 (Paris/Warsaw)
20:00-20:50, June 3 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
01:00-01:50, June 4 (Shanghai/Perth)
05:00-05:50, June 4 (Auckland/Suva)

 

Jeremy Talmage, “Injected Some Catholic Doctrine”: The Portuguese Book of Mormon and the Standardization of Scripture Translation

Christian Euvrard, “Traduttore, Traditore”, or the Difficulty of Translating Scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

 

This session will explore difficulties and problems associated with the translation of Latter-day Saint scripture from English into other languages. Jeremy Talmage will consider 20th-century accusations that translators of the Book of Mormon into Portuguese had deliberately traded Latter-day Saint doctrine for Catholic beliefs. He will argue that these events, while based on a misunderstanding, continue to influence Mormon approaches to translation today. Christian Euvrard will use the Italian expression “traduttore, traditore” (“translator, traitor”) as a starting point for describing the particular challenges associated with the translation of Latter-day Saint scripture. He will use the French language as a source of examples for illustrating a number of these challenges.

 

Social Hour 5: Farewell Chat

The final GMS 2023 social hour will be a farewell chat; everyone is welcome to sign in to Slack, join this channel, talk about their favorite parts of the conference, and make connections that will last beyond the conference!

12:00-12:50, June 3 (Salt Lake City/Ciudad Juárez)
14:00-14:50, June 3 (New York/Toronto)
20:00-20:50, June 3 (Paris/Warsaw)
21:00-21:50, June 3 (Istanbul/Nairobi)
02:00-02:50, June 4 (Shanghai/Perth)
06:00-06:50, June 4 (Auckland/Suva)