MISSION

 

Mormon Scholars in the Humanities is an association dedicated to:

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• Promoting intellectual and collegial exchange among LDS humanities scholars in the United States and abroad;
   

• Fostering support and mentoring for the production of superior scholarship in all humanistic disciplines;
   

• Providing a forum for exchange that explores and strengthens LDS values, especially as they relate to humanistic inquiry; and
   

• Assisting members in the successful integration of the intellectual and spiritual aspects of their lives.
   

Mormon Scholars in the Humanities encourages scholarly inquiry in all areas of the humanities, not only those directly related to Mormon culture and history.

 

 

HISTORY

 

Mormon Scholars in the Humanities was established in 2007 with its inaugural meeting, “Mormon Belief, Scholarship, and the Humanities,” held at Brigham Young University March 23–24, 2007, with support from the College of Humanities at BYU-Provo. The organization was formed with the intent of providing a forum for humanities scholars to reflect on the various connections between religious practice and academic projects, both practical and theoretical.

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MSH has held regular meetings since that time at a variety of institutions throughout the United States. Effort is made to ensure that meetings cultivate a collegial and supportive atmosphere. As a result, a secondary, though important, purpose to the organization has emerged: to provide a space to facilitate community and connections among Mormon scholars who work in the humanities at both LDS and non-LDS institutions.

 

 

CURRENT LEADERSHIP

 

Jonathon Penny, President (2019–2021)

Jonathon Penny is Chair of Sciences and Liberal Arts at Rochester Institute of Technology’s Dubai campus, where he also oversees general education and teaches 19th and 20th century literature, digital literature, communications, and writing. He is an occasional scholar, poet, and fictionist, whose work has appeared in both digital and print publications over the last several years. His most recent project is a tetralogy of plays set in the four Mormon communities of Southern Alberta, for which he writes book and lyrics. The first three—Are We Not All Strangers(2016), Diggers (2017), and Junction Town (2018)—have already been produced. The final play, provisionally titled “Homefront,” is set for production in 2019.

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Shawn Tucker, Vice-President (2019–2021)

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Jenny Champoux, Vice-President (2019–2021)

Jenny Champoux is a lecturer in art history at Northeastern University.  She has a BA in international politics from BYU and a MA in art history from Boston University.  She lives in northern Virginia with her husband and three children.

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Joseph Spencer, Treasurer (ongoing)

Joseph Spencer is an assistant professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. He is the author of An Other Testament: On Typology, For Zion: A Mormon Theology of Hope, and, most recently, The Vision of All:Twenty-five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi’s Record, as well as of numerous articles dealing with philosophy and Mormon studies. He is the editor of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, and the Associate Director of the Mormon Theology Seminar.

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Sarah Moore, Secretary (2019–2021)

 

 

PAST LEADERSHIP

 

George Handley, President (2007–2008)

David Paxman, President (2009–2011)

John Armstrong, President (2011–2012)

Alan Goff, President (2012–2015)

Jenny Webb, President (2016–2018)

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