New Site – MormonConferences.org

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One of our readers, Kent White, has built a new website at MormonConferences.org which gives announcements of upcoming conferences and papers which have to do with the Church and Mormonism.  As Kent describes it:

This site’s purpose is to provide those who have an interest in Mormon Studies the ability to easily find all of the conferences where presentations are made on Mormonism’s theology, history, culture, and people. I have particularly tried to make this a resource for scholars of Mormonism and those who enjoy academics, including the most comprehensive list of Calls for Papers on Mormon Studies (even if the papers aren’t presented at a conference).

I haven’t been too involved in the various conferences in the past, but I plan to change all of that.  These conferences/symposiums are an excellent way to stay current on all the latest scholarship in the Church, and to learn a great deal.  I appreciate the work that Kent has done on this website, and I have subscribed to his feeds.  Kent gave me the opportunity to design his site’s logo too, so that was fun.

Check out MormonConferences.org!

Hats with Lapel Cords

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Boater hat (also known as skimmer, katie, basher, or sennit hat)

Boater hat (also known as skimmer, katie, basher, or sennit hat)

Recently my wife was reading a book entitled A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943) by Betty Smith when she came across a passage which was interesting that she shared with me:

One day, Hildy asked Johnny to bring someone for Katie, her girl friend, the next time they went dancing.  Johnny obliged.  The four of them rode out to Canarsie on the trolley.  The boys wore straw katies with a cord attached to the brim and the other end to their coat lapel.  The stiff ocean breeze blew the hats off and there was much laughter when the boys pulled the skimmers back by the cords. ((Betty Smith, A Tree Gorws in Brooklyn, 57, link.))

I had not heard of this kind of hat before so I did a bit of research.  I couldn’t find any reference to a katie hat, but I was able to find a hat called a skimmer, which is also known as a boater, basher, or sennit hat  ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boater)).  Basically it is what we commonly call a barbershop hat today (see picture).  They are still popular in Italy where they are known as boater hats among gondoliers.  But there was something else in this passage that I wanted to research a bit.  [Read more…]

Third Nephi Conference at BYU September 26-27

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The Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies at BYU has announced that they are sponsoring a conference next month devoted to Third Nephi.  The conference is entitled “Third Nephi: New Perspectives on an Incomparable Scripture.”  It will be held in the Wilkinson Center at BYU on September 26th and 27th, and will be open to the public.  There will be presentations on the following topics:

  • New Insights Into the Temple Setting of the Sermon on the Mount in Reference to the Sermon at the Temple – John Welch
  • Preparing the Way of the Lord’s Coming
  • Experiencing the Lord
  • The Lord’s Prayers
  • The Lord’s Prophecies
  • Theological Implications
  • The Written Record
  • What we have learned about Third Nephi and the Savior’s post-resurrection ministry in the new world – Panel Discussion

Some of the scholars that will be participating are John Welch, S. Kent Brown, Grant Hardy, Robert L. Millet, Richard Dilworth Rust, Daniel Belnap, Dana Pike, Kristine Fredrickson, Patrick R. Steffen, Daniel McKinlay, and Jane Allis-Pike.  This looks like it will be really good.  I’m planning on going on Friday, September 26th, and I’ll see if I can liveblog it here, like I did for the FAIR Conference.  Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend on Saturday.

See more information on the conference here.

Pronaos on “Where was Solomon’s Temple?”

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Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Temple Mount in Jerusalem

The blog Pronaos is becoming ever more intriguing as Grandpa Enoch continues his series on the possible location of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem.  It’s not just the question of the location of the temple that interests me, but the great introduction to the geography of the entire region too.  I’ve always wondered what the layout of the area was.  This is fascinating material to learn more about the ancient city of Jerusalem.  Here are the posts in the series thus far: