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NEWSLETTER | Spring 2024
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Spring is the season of new beginnings. This spring, our Mormon Studies program emerges from winter with renewed energy and big ambitions for 2024. We anticipate this will be a year of accelerated growth, as we continue to expand our digital presence, increase our program’s profile with in-person events, and support exciting research by academics and laypeople alike.
Here are just a few of the topics this newsletter will cover:
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Welcoming our new Chair
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2024 research fellowships awarded
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LDS Council updates
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New digital resources on our site
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New Scholars & Saints podcast episode
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This newsletter is dedicated to our current program Chair, Prof. Kathleen Flake, and Council Chair, Jolene Bodily. Both are leaving the program this spring. We thank you for your leadership, hard work, and dedication!
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Welcome to Our New Chair
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We’re excited to welcome Prof. Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp, UVA’s new Richard Lyman Bushman Chair of Mormon Studies. Maffly-Kipp is a distinguished scholar in American religious history and has authored numerous influential works on Mormonism, religion in the American West, and African American religious history. She will assume leadership of the Mormon Studies program in late August 2024.
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A Fond Farewell to Prof. Flake
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Maffly-Kipp will replace Prof. Kathleen Flake who was appointed in 2013 as our first Bushman Chair and is retiring at the end of the month. Under Prof. Flake’s direction, our Mormon Studies program has become the leading site for Mormon Studies outside of Salt Lake City. Her considerable accomplishments include stewardship of the highly prestigious Joseph Smith lecture series, the creation of the Early Marriage Database, and the expansion of our Mormon Studies Library Collection. Prof. Flake was recently granted the honorary rank of professor emeritus, recognizing her extraordinary contributions to the University. Please be sure to congratulate her and wish her well before her last day, May 24.
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2024 Research Fellowship Recipients
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We’re excited to announce the first-ever recipients of the Clyde Research Fellowship In Mormon Studies and Gender, as well as the recipient of our annual UVA Library Research Fellowship in Mormon Studies. The fellowships are awarded for research in our extensive Mormon Studies Library Collection. The recipients are as follows:
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Clyde Research Fellows:
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David Howlett, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion, Smith College
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Nancy Ross, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Art and Sciences, Utah Tech University
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Stephen Cranney, Non-Resident Fellow, Institute for the Studies of Religion, Baylor University Adjunct Lecturer, Sociology Department, Catholic University of America
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Library Research Fellow:
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Dr. Spencer Wells, Lecturer, Master of Interdisciplinary Studies, Southern Utah University
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Interested in supporting Mormon Studies research?
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LDS Council Updates
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This summer, Jolene Bodily will step down as Chair of the UVA Mormon Studies Council. She has served on the Council since its inception in 2013, acting as Co-Chair from 2015 - 2018 and Chair from 2018 - 2024. Under Bodily’s leadership, the Council raised $1,003,000 with $345,000 going to endowed funds.
These generous contributions have supported:
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Doctoral and post-doctoral study
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Workshops and panels
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LDSSA gatherings
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Scholarly research
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The Joseph Smith Lecture series
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Our interactive, resource-rich website
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Jolene expresses gratitude for the opportunity to collaborate with bright minds and forward thinkers. Julee Ellsworth and Alison Bennett will serve as Co-Chairs as Prof. Maffly-Kipp assumes the new Bushman Chair in late summer.
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Just Click to Explore
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Our program’s mission is to promote scholarly research and facilitate public understanding of all branches of Mormonism. To this end, we’re constantly striving to increase the number of digital resources available on our website. With the permission of Dr. Gregory Prince, we recently added the following resources:
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McKay Diaries
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David O. McKay served as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1951 to 1970. His leadership defined the emergence of the Church in the 20th Century as a full participant in American society and its beginnings as a global phenomenon.
VIEW DIARIES
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Arrington Diaries
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Leonard J. Arrington was an American historian and the first academically trained Church Historian of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1972 to 1982.
VIEW DIARIES
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More Prince Collection digital materials are coming soon!
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Our Chair, Prof. Kathleen Flake, has continued to represent our Mormon Studies program this spring at public and academic events. Here’s a recap of the events she recently attended:
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UVA Ceremony for Endowed Chairs
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Charlottesville, VA - March 2024
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Honoree: Prof. Flake was honored by the provost along with 124 other endowed chairholders at the university.
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UVA Center for Politics
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Charlottesville, VA - March 2024
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Panelist: “From Zoomers to Boomers: Unraveling Political Perspectives Across Generations”
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Other Activities
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Prof. Flake was recently invited by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to consult on their Joseph Smith biography.
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We’re on Instagram - Follow us @uvamormonstudies for the latest updates.
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New Library Acquisition - We’re in the final stages of acquiring the Bert R. Holfeltz Collection. This collection is particularly noteworthy for its diaries, which give an intimate account of 20th-century congregational life by a long-serving Salt Lake City pioneer-heritage ward bishop.
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Mark Your Calendars - Our next annual Joseph Smith Lecture will take place in October. It will be the inauguration of Prof. Maffly-Kipp as our new Program chair; she will also be the speaker.
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SUPPORT US
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Our program is made possible by the generous support of our donors. Interested in making a gift? We offer a variety of options, and all contributions are greatly appreciated!
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