Claremont Graduate University has recently established the Council on the Study of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, hosted several lectures by prominent scholars of Mormonism, and is hosting a conference this October to further study ways Mormon Studies might take shape at Claremont and in the wider academic world. and Claremont isn’t alone. In researching a major article published in the 21 February 2004 Salt Lake Tribune, reporters Peggy Fletcher Stack and Linda Fantin interviewed dozens of scholars about this wave of interest in Mormon Studies among universities and scholarly presses and their thoughts on how best to approach the academic study of Mormonism. Can Mormon Studies be effectively done in Utah, where a majority of students are LDS, or is it best left to settings such as Claremont? What courses might be offered? What texts might be used? Come with your own ideas to share.

Peggy Fletcher Stack, Ann Taves