Year: 2011

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Sociology Position – BYU-Idaho

Brigham Young University-Idaho Posting Details

Official Title:

Full-time Faculty – Sociology

Department:

Sociology And Social Work

Position Type:

Faculty

Position Summary:

Teach core sociology courses in a comprehensive sociology program. Assignments could include theory, research methods, and statistical analysis. Teach general courses in inequalities and institutions, with an open emphasis. Additional responsibilities include mentoring student research and internship activities, advising students, and fulfilling other department and university assignments. Throughout their careers, all BYU-Idaho faculty are expected to actively pursue professional development opportunities in learning and teaching and ongoing scholarly development within their discipline.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

Doctorate in Sociology preferred; ABD applicants will be considered with the stipulation that continued employment will be based upon the completion of a doctoral degree. Applicants must have a demonstrated commitment to and evidence of excellence in teaching. Applicants must be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and eligible for a temple recommend.

Work Schedule:

To be determined by department chair.

Anticipated Start Date:

08-20-2012

Salary:

Dependent on education and experience.

Posting Date:

11-11-2011

Closing Date:

Open Until Filled

Required Applicant Documents:

Resume
Cover Letter
Transcript 1

Optional Applicant Documents:

Curriculum Vitae
Letter of Reference 1
Letter of Reference 2
Letter of Reference 3
Other Document
Transcript 2
Transcript 3

Special Instructions to Applicants:

Original transcript of degrees earned is required and must be mailed by the university to the following address:
Mr. Kelly T Burgener
Associate Academic VP for Instruction
210 KIM
BYU-Idaho
Rexburg ID 83460-1690

Contact Info:

Peggy P. Clements
210 KIM
Academic Office
BYU-Idaho
Rexburg ID 83460-1690
208-496-1140
clementsp@byui.edu

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Q: Are lifelong members of the LDS Church more or less likely to leave as compared converts?

Q: I am specifically interested in whether there have been studies on those who have converted out of Mormonism in terms of how this breaks down statistically in terms of lifelong members vs. converts. Are lifelong members less likely to leave vs. others?

A: Rick Phillips kindly provided an extensive response to this question.  He wrote:

In the 80s, using proprietary LDS data, Stan Albrecht found that converts were at greater risk of defection, and that the risk was highest in the first five years after conversion. Here is the citation:

Stan L. Albrecht, “The Consequential Dimension of Mormon Religiosity,” in Latter-day Saint Social Life: Social Research on the LDS Church and its Members, ed. James B. Duke (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1998), 273.

A few years ago, I published an article showing that nations with high growth rates have a high disparity between the number of people on LDS church rolls, and the number of people who claim to be LDS on national censuses. This implies that new converts are at much higher risk of defection. Here is the citation:

Rick Phillips “Rethinking the International Expansion of Mormonism” Nova Religio: The Journal of New and Emergent Religions 65 no. 2 (2006) 52–68.

These findings coincide with anecdotal reports and newspaper accounts of GA statements on the subject from this time frame. Thus, for the worldwide church, I think it is very safe to say that converts are at higher risk of defection than lifelong members.

The situation in the United States is a bit different. In a forthcoming article, Ryan Cragun and I show that until about 1995, converts were more likely to defect than lifelong LDS. However, as the demographic base that undergirds Mormonism in UT and the intermountain west begins to erode, this difference has been erased. Now defections are equally likely among lifelong members and converts, at least in the US. The article is entitled “Contemporary Mormon Religiosity and the Legacy of ‘Gathering,’” due out in the journal Nova Religio.

Finally, in a report that Ryan Cragun and I are writing, we use data from the American Religious Identification Survey to infer that defections from the faith in Utah are increasing, and that young men are at greatest risk of falling away. The male to female ratio among self-identified Mormons in Utah is now 2:3. This report is not quite finished yet, but it will be released soon.

 

Armand Mauss also suggested the following article on David Stewart’s website: http://www.cumorah.com/index.php?target=church_growth_articles&story_id=13

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Claremont Mormon Studies Conference: Laying Up Treasure: Mormons in the Marketplace

When: Fri Mar 30, 2012 to Sat Mar 31, 2012
Where: Claremont, California

Given the recent global economic recession, high unemployment rates, and strident political debates on issues such as deficits, taxation, and economic growth, concerns about money are high on public and personal agendas. From monasticism to communitarianism to prosperity theology, religion has been an important variable in cultural attitudes and ideologies toward participation in the marketplace. Brigham Young, for instance, instructed nineteenth-century Utah Mormons to produce their own food and goods, and not to trade with “gentiles,” and various towns experimented with the United Order. This separation did not last, however, and throughout the twentieth century, Mormons followed a path of economic integration. With such an example in mind, this conference seeks to explore how Mormons have theorized about and used the goods of this world personally, socially, and theologically across time and in various settings.

Possible questions to be explored include: Does LDS theology—from Joseph Smith to the early Utah period to the present—say anything distinctive about Mormons’ relationship to the market? How has the economic communitarianism of 19th-century Mormonism played out over the past century? How do Mormon teachings affect the financial and economic decisions of Mormon individuals, families, and communities (for instance, the connections between Mormon millennialism and food storage, or the dilemma of women in the workplace)? What can be said about major LDS “titans of industry,” ranging from Marriott to Covey to Romney? In what ways are Mormon economic ideals shaped by their original American context, and how do they translate in the international sphere, particularly in areas that do not hold as strongly to free market capitalism? To what extent were Latter-day Saints involved in the financial and housing industries that have been pointed to as major elements of the 2008 recession? Is there a coherent body of Mormon teaching about poverty, along the lines of a “preferential option for the poor”? In sum, is there anything distinctively “Mormon” about the ways that Latter-day Saints, historically or currently, operate as economic agents?

Since these questions, and many more, can be approached from a wide variety of disciplines and methods, we invite papers from all possible fields of academic inquiry. We strongly encourage graduate students to apply. A limited number of stipends will be available to conference presenters who need assistance for travel and lodging.

Abstracts of approximately 250 words, a one-page CV, and a presenter’s bio should be submitted by November 1, 2011. Authors will be notified of acceptance by December 1.
Please send submissions or questions to:

conference@claremontmormonstudies.org

Original Source: http://www.claremontmormonstudies.org/conferences/

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Job Opening at The Research Information Division at LDS Church headquarters

Attached is a job posting for the Research Information Division at LDS Church headquarters.  Quoting from an accompanying letter:

“As identified in the announcement, we are seeking bright, talented, energetic people with background in the social sciences. We work in a dynamic, team-oriented, multi-disciplinary environment. As a reminder, all applicants must be members of the Church in good standing.  In addition, over the next several years we expect to be filling other similar positions. If you are familiar with individuals who might become qualified over the next two to five years, qualified please forward their contact information to me. We are setting up a database to track future potential candidates.”

Here is the job posting.

And here is the letter announcing the job.

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Q: Mormons vs. Evangelicals in Utah?

Q: (1) What percentage of the Utah population is LDS and what percentage is evangelical and, (2) how have these percentages changed over time?  (3) Which evangelical denominations are present in Utah.

 

Answer:

Rick Phillips, Andrew Miles, and Armand Mauss all wrote in to suggest that the questioner peruse the American Religion Data Archive (ARDA) for this information.  Below are some maps generated using the ARDA website that illustrate the percentages Mormon and Evangelical by counties in Utah in 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2009.

% Mormon - 1980 (click for full size)

 

% Evangelical - 1980 (click for full size)

 

Mormons - 1990 (click for full size)

 

Evangelicals - 1990 (click for full size)

 

Mormons - 2000 (click for full size)

 

Evangelicals - 2000 (click for full size)

 

Mormons - 2009 (click for full size)

 

Evangelicals - 2009 (click for full size)

 

These maps were generated here.  The maps do indicate a declining percentage Mormon in some counties and an increasing percentage Evangelical Protestant.

The ARDA also includes a table with specific information on denominations in Utah in 2000 (see here).  According to that table, there were 42,420 Evangelical Protestants in Utah in 2000 and 1,483,858 Mormons/LDS.  This table reports 1990 membership information.  In 1990 there were 38,137 Evangelical Protestants and 1,236,242 Mormons/LDS.  Finally, this table reports the 1980 membership information.  In 1980 there were 23,464 Evangelical Protestants and 985,070 Mormons/LDS.  These numbers suggest a 51% increase in members for Mormons/LDS and an 81% increase in members for Evangelical Protestants.  These percentages suggest Evangelical Protestants are growing more rapidly relative to their size, but in absolute members the Mormons/LDS Church is growing more rapidly.

Finally, the 2000 table also provides a list of Evangelical Protestant denominations with members in Utah, though they vary in size substantially:

  • American Baptist Association, The
  • Apostolic Christian Churches (Nazarene)
  • Assemblies of God
  • Calvary Chapel Fellowship Churches
  • Christian and Missionary Alliance, The
  • Christian Churches and Churches of Christ
  • Christian Reformed Church in North America
  • Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
  • Church of God of Prophecy
  • Church of the Nazarene
  • Churches of Christ
  • Community of Christ
  • Conservative Baptist Association of America
  • Evangelical Free Church of America, The
  • General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
  • Independent, Charismatic Churches
  • International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
  • International Churches of Christ
  • International Pentecostal Holiness Church
  • Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
  • Mennonite Brethren Churches, U.S. Conference of
  • Mennonite; Other Groups
  • National Association of Free Will Baptists
  • Orthodox Presbyterian Church, The
  • Pentecostal Church of God
  • Presbyterian Church in America
  • Salvation Army, The
  • Seventh-day Adventist Church
  • Southern Baptist Convention
  • Southwide Baptist Fellowship
  • Vineyard USA
  • Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Rick Phillips also suggested the following articles from the Salt Lake Tribune:
And Armand Mauss suggested the New Historical Atlas of Religion in America by Edwin Gustad and Philip Barlow.
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Annual Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lecture – Richard V. Francaviglia

Sponsored by:
Special Collections & Archives; Merrill-Cazier Library; The Leonard J. Arrington Lecture and Archives Foundation; College of Humanities and Social Sciences; and Utah State University

The lecture is free and open to the public. Call 435-797-2663 with questions.

Dr. Richard V. Francaviglia presents:

“’Like the Hajis of Meccah and Jerusalem’ — Orientalism and the Mormon Experience”

Throughout their history, the Latter-day Saints have been compared to peoples of the Middle East, a region that was also called the “Near East” and sometimes simply “the Orient” in the 1800s. Like many Americans in the early 1800s, the Mormons were well aware of — and fascinated by — the Orient. In the 1830s, Mormon prophet Joseph Smith purchased ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and translated them into the Book of Abraham. Because Smith became a prophet in post-Biblical times, he was often compared to Islam’s prophet Mohammed. The Mormons’ belief that they were the true Israelites further linked their new American faith to the ancient Near East. So, too, did the Mormons’ interpretation of Native Americans as “Lamanites” (or Lost Tribes of Israel). The Mormon belief that repositioned important Biblical locations onto American soil (for example, the Garden of Eden) was also a factor. Within a few years of the Mormons’ 1847 arrival in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, Utah was popularly considered the New Zion or New Jerusalem. As Mormon historian Leonard Arrington noted, Brigham Young was portrayed as the “American Moses” who had led the Mormon “Exodus” to this new Promised Land. Associating the Mormons with the Orient was controversial and lasted a long time. It provided ammunition to those who argued that Mormons were strange or even dangerous, and yet it also helped generate interest in the Mormon faith. The process was mutual, for the Mormons were not only given an Oriental identity by others, but willingly adopted it themselves. Using a wide range of sources, this presentation explores how and why the Latter-day Saints were “Orientalized” to become a distinctive and exotic people on the American frontier.

Dr. Francaviglia is a historian and geographer interested in how cultural attitudes shape the American West. Among his ten books are three — The Mormon Landscape (1979), Believing in Place (2003), and Go East, Young Man: Imagining the American West as the Orient (2011) — that address the important role played by religion. Although he is Professor Emeritus (University of Texas at Arlington), he now lives in Salem, Oregon, where he actively conducts research for his consulting company (Geo-Graphic Designs) and recently began teaching courses in Religious Studies at Willamette University. All college students are invited to participate in a writing competition in conjunction with this lecture. Cash awards will be given.

Location:

Thursday, September 15, 2011, at 7 pm

Logan LDS Institute Cultural Center
600 Darwin Avenue
Logan, Utah

Free parking tokens for the Aggie Terrace Parking Garage will be made available for those who attend.

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Q: When did the program of using youthful males as missionaries become the norm within Mormonism?

Q: I am frustrated because lots of searching through the books I have, including the Mormon Encyclopedia, is not telling me when the program of using youthful males as missionaries became the norm within Mormonism. An article in the Encyclopedia mentions that initially the missionaries were usually married men who left their families for an unknown period. I know that the earlier format for studies with people by the young missionaries was published about 1960. But when did the two-by-two youthful ones originate, and what were the patterns between the “first generation” married men and the when the study format was published? If you know the answers to this set of questions I would be most grateful to have them, please.

A: Several members of the MSSA responded to this question.

Jan Shipps wrote:

In my own general research, the first mention I saw of the shift to young men came not long before World War II. I know that at the first of the war in Europe, the First Presidency was very much concerned about making sure that the American missionaries in Germany and other parts of continent could get home safely. There were lots of questions about whether missionaries would be drafted during World War II. But that does not tell us a lot.

Jonathan Stapley wrote:

The chapters in Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia by Reeve and Parshall on “Mormonism and Transition” and “Missiology” may be helpful.  Additionally, Payne’s article on sister missionaries in New Scholarship on Latter-day Saint Women in the Twentieth Century will also be helpful.

David Heap wrote:

My mother was a missionary in the Northern States Mission around 1953, 54. She said there were a few married elders, called because of Korea. But she understood that was the last of them, and that early on the McKay Administration decided to end the calling of married brethren to serve missions. I am not sure on what basis she said that (she is now deceased)–whether it was common knowledge, or whether she learned from President McKay himself or his son, who was my mother’s uncle.