Global Mormon Studies 2025 Conference

Call for Papers

In her book Sacred Struggle, Melissa Inouye wrote:

The place of alienation is familiar. All paths through eternity loop through here, more often than any of us would like… Christ was here. This place is sacred.”

The place of alienation and marginalisation is particularly familiar in global Mormon studies. Our research often dwells here.

This manifests in many ways. Within Mormonism some take pride in identifying as a ‘peculiar people’ and emphasise being separate from the world. Mormonism and the wider context of Abrahamic religions has a history of divinely mandated translocation and migration, both born of, and causing, alienation and conflict with other groups. Mormons in global contexts experience marginalisation in communities and cultures, feeling very far from a religious centre in Salt Lake City, and at times culturally at odds with the American roots of Mormonism. Opinions on a variety of subjects such as gender, family structure, LGBTQ, and politics can also cause alienation and marginalisation both within Mormonism and in relation to wider communities.

We welcome papers from across the academic spectrum that address Mormonism on the margins and the place of alienation from global Mormon perspectives. Suggested paper topics include, but are not limited to:

• Cultural differences in global context within Mormonism
• Mormonism in conflict with local traditions, practices, and norms
• The negotiation of religious, cultural norms or constraints based on race, ethnicity, gender or marginalized sexualities
• Mormonism and migration and/or Mormonism and refugees
• Interfaith dialogue and cooperation

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should include:

• Paper title
• 250-300 word paper proposal
• max. 150 word bio of presenter

Please submit your paper proposal via this Google Form

If you would like to submit a panel, please submit via this Google Form

Submission Deadline: 25th October 2024