A couple of interesting blurbs appear in the “Study and Faith” newletter accompanying the most recent issue of BYU Studies. To wit:
We are happy to announce that BYU Studies is in the process of expanding the types and numbers of reviews and notices published on our website and in our journal. In addition to full length book reviews, notices and review essays will cover current developments in LDS-related film, television, theater, exhibitions, artwork, literature, music, websites, and blogs. We plan to offer these more immediately on the web and then, as space allows, also in print. These commentaries will be of enduring academic value, and the content will be moderated by scholars in the appropriate field.
I’ll be watching to see what the journal’s coverage of the blogs looks like. And we can expect an expanded BYU Studies website, as well, it seems. (The site is already very good: there’s almost always some sort of downloadable freebie on the main page, this month including a superb piece by Terryl Givens, a remarkable audio recording of Wilfrod Woodruff, and an excerpt from the Book of Jubilees.)
A familiar name has a new role at the journal, as well:
Gideon Burton, who has served BYU Studies for three years as chair of the Liberal Arts and Sciences editorial board, will now work half-time as our Mormon Studies Academic Editor.
Good things to follow, I’m sure.
Oh man, I love Gideon… I had him as a professor once. A great great mind.
I think that Jack Welch has very good ideas and good plans as well. This should be a good development for Mormon Studies, and Gideon’s change of appointment also bodes well.
Rosalynde, I should mention that I read your title quite differently than you intended it, so I was surprised when I got to the text. When I read the title, I wondered “Who at BYU is doing that study?” I took “studies” as a verb rather than a noun (acting as an adjective).
This is an interesting development. I know that there is a significant amount of institutional support for BYU Studies, and it seems as if they are making a bid for becoming the most relevent Mormon Studies journal. I’ll look forward to watching how this unfolds. I still think they need to change their name…