“May These Principles Be Established”: Mormonism in the Political Arena

GRADUATE STUDENT CONFERENCE: CALL FOR PAPERS

"May These Principles Be Established": Mormonism in the Political Arena

The balance between church and state has always been a lively and sometimes contentious issue, even, and perhaps especially, in the United States, a country with long-declared freedom of religion. From the time of Joseph Smith's presidential campaign, through the tumultuous integration of Utah into the wider American political body and up to the present day in which Mormons dot the political landscape, Mormonism has sought to define its relationship to the body politic. In the process, it has raised issues ranging from theocracy to the place of private beliefs in public policy creation.

In order to explore these issues, the Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association (CMSSA) invites all interested graduate students to a conference addressing the theme of Mormonism in the political arena. The conference will be held April 18-19, 2008 at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. Papers from all social scientific and humanities disciplines are welcomed, as this topic invites exploration from many perspectives, individual, organizational, historical, contemporary, theological, ethical and even international. Similar conferences on additional topics relevant to Mormon Studies are expected to be held biennially.