The Third Annual Summer Seminar on Mormon Theology
“A Preparatory Redemption: Reading Alma 12–13”
Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California
June 1–June 15, 2016
Sponsored by the Mormon Theology Seminar
in partnership with
The Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies and
The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
In the summer of 2016, the Mormon Theology Seminar, in partnership with the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies and the Neal A. Maxwell Institute at Brigham Young University, will sponsor a seminar for graduate students and faculty devoted to reading Alma 12–13.
The seminar will be hosted by Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, from June 1 through June 15, 2016. Travel arrangements, housing, and a $1000 stipend will be provided for admitted participants. The seminar will be led by Adam Miller and Joseph Spencer, directors of the Mormon Theology Seminar, with assistance from Brian Hauglid, director of the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies.
This third annual summer seminar will again adapt the Mormon Theology Seminar’s practice of facilitating intense, exploratory, interdisciplinary, and collaborative readings of Mormon scripture for a live two-week format. During the first week, the seminar will meet daily to work word by word through the text of Alma 12:19–13:20 from a variety of disciplinary perspectives (philosophical, historical, literary, anthropological, rhetorical, political, archeological, sociological, etc.) in order to promote theologically rich readings of the text. The second week will workshop conference papers and a joint-report based on the previous week’s collaboration and will culminate in a one-day conference, open to the public, on June 15, 2016. The conference proceedings will then be gathered and edited for publication.
The seminar welcomes applications from a wide variety of academic disciplines, cultural backgrounds, and geographic locations. Graduate students, junior scholars, and scholars based outside the U.S. are especially encouraged to apply, though applications from senior and independent scholars are also welcome.
Applications should be submitted by January 15, 2016. Notifications will be sent by February 15, 2016. Application materials should include (1) a full curriculum vitae, (2) a 200 word statement regarding the applicant’s interest in the seminar, and (3) a 500-750 word essay that demonstrates the applicants ability to offer a close, creative, and theologically substantial reading of Alma 13:1.
Questions and application materials should be directed to [email protected]
For more information about the Mormon Theology Seminar, visit:
For more information about the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, visit:
I participated in the 2014 summer seminar and it was the best thing ever. I’d strongly encourage anyone considering it to apply.