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.
David Larsen posted a great notice over at Heavenly Ascents of the upcoming “Temples and Ritual in Antiquity” Symposium that will be held at BYU on November 7th, 2008. It is being presented by the Students of the Ancient Near East (SANE), and will have both students and top scholars presenting papers on the temple in antiquity. In fact, David will be presenting there too, as well as Andrew Miller. I will certainly be going to this symposium! It will be like Christmas morning, a smorgasbord of insight in temple studies.
I will see if I can liveblog the event here on TempleStudy.com. The FAIR Conference liveblog (Day 1 & Day 2) seemed to work out well and was beneficial to many people. Unfortunately, they have three speakers going at once, so we’ll only be able to attend 1/3 of all the exceptional presentations that will be presented. It’s a shame they had to consolidate since all of the presentations are no doubt going to be excellent. It appears that a selection will be “printed in a publication from the Religious Studies Center, and several others will be printed in Studia Antiqua” (link). (I’m still trying to find a way to go to Margaret Barker’s Temple Study Symposium in Oxford the next day, November 8th, and Bill Hamblin’s Temple Study SBL group in Boston a couple weeks later).
[Update 8/19/08: Dan McClellan has posted a nice schedule of the presentations, as well as short bios of the presenters, on his blog here.]
See the poll below (viewable only from the website):
Which presentations interest you most? (Pick one from each time slot, 8 total)
9:00-9:30 - Andrew Miller–â€The Mysteries in Pauline Christianity†(11%, 25 Votes)
10:30-11:00 - Dr. John Gee–â€Rituals of the Egyptian Temple: An Orientation†(10%, 23 Votes)
10:00-10:30 - David Larsen–â€Two High Priesthoods? Evidence for Changes in the Priesthood from First to Second Temple Judaism†(10%, 23 Votes)
12:45-1:15 - Matthew Brown–â€Kingship Initiation Motifs in Ancient Israel†(7%, 17 Votes)
11:15-11:45 - James Carroll–â€An Expanded View of the Israelite Scapegoat†(6%, 15 Votes)
12:15-12:45 - Scott Preston Sukhan Nibley–â€Ancient Southeast Asian Temples†(6%, 14 Votes)
11:45-12:15 - Dr. David Seely–â€Josephus and the Temple†(6%, 14 Votes)
11:45-12:15 - Mark Wright–â€The Cultural Context of Nephite Apostasy†(5%, 12 Votes)
12:45-1:15 - Joseph Petramalo–â€The Samaritan Temple and Priesthood†(5%, 11 Votes)
12:15-12:45 - Justin Robinson–â€Covenants and Simile Curses†(4%, 10 Votes)
9:30-10:00 - Dr. Dan Belnap–â€The Role of Scent in the Rituals of Ancient Israel†(3%, 8 Votes)
10:00-10:30 - Daniel Becerra–â€The Chrism in Early Christianity†(3%, 8 Votes)
10:30-11:00 - Dr. Bill Hamblin–TBA (3%, 8 Votes)
10:30-11:00 - Rachel A. Grover–â€The Paradise Garden and Messianic Age Imagery in the 5th to 7th Century Church Floor Mosaics of Jordan†(3%, 7 Votes)
11:15-11:45 - Chris Dawe–â€The Deification of Romulus†(3%, 6 Votes)
11:45-12:15 - Dr. Bryan Benson–â€The Treatment of Temples in Plato’s Republic and Laws“ (2%, 5 Votes)
12:15-12:45 - Dustin Simmons–â€Emperor as God: Roman Imperial Cult Worship & Implications for Early Christians†(2%, 5 Votes)
11:15-11:45 - Jacob Moody–â€Philistine Ritual Artifacts†(2%, 4 Votes)
10:00-10:30 - Elliott Wise–â€An Odor of Sanctity: The Iconography, Magic, and Liturgy of Egyptian Incense†(2%, 4 Votes)
12:45-1:15 - Keith Fairbank–â€The Eleusinian Mysteries: Greatest Conquest of Demetrios Poliorketes†(1%, 3 Votes)
9:30-10:00 - Aaron Snyder–â€The Prayer Circle in Early Christianity†(0%, 1 Votes)
9:00-9:30 - Donald Parry–â€Eve, Eden, and the Temple†(0%, 1 Votes)
9:00-9:30 - Kerry Muhlestein with Alyssa Lewis–â€The Role of Violent Rituals in the Egyptian Temple†(0%, 0 Votes)
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:
David Larsen posted a great notice over at 
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