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PODCAST

Scholars & Saints

UVA Mormon Studies

Scholars & Saints is the official podcast of the University of Virginia’s Mormon Studies program, housed in the Department of Religious Studies. Scholars & Saints is a venue of public scholarship that promotes respectful dialogue about Latter Day Saint traditions among laypersons and academics.

education religion

All Episodes

94:41

The Latter-day Saint Legal Tradition (feat. Nathan Oman)

Scholars & Saints ·

2026/04/01

Perhaps no religion has had a more contentious or complex relationship with American law than Mormonism: from 19th century debates over polygamy to questions of church affiliated states. So how has Mormonism, particularly the Latter-day Saint tradition, negotiated the Western legal tradition within its own belief systems? And what is the Latter-day Saint legal tradition, whether explicit or implicit, that's emerged from these engagements? These are just a few of the many gripping questions Wi...

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63:20

Belief and Belonging in the 21st Century | Panel...

Scholars & Saints ·

2026/01/16

Religious identities have shifted dramatically in the last quarter century. But how, and it what ways? Is religion as we once knew it dying in the U.S.? Or are people finding other ways of expressing the same kinds of needs for affiliation and meaning in different forms? What do people really mean when they say they are spiritual but not religious? Or religious but not affiliated with any traditional communities or institutions? This panel discussion, held on October 25, 2025, centered around...

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37:43

JSL 2025 | Not All In, But Not Out: Exploring the...

Scholars & Saints ·

2025/11/12

This bonus episode of Scholars & Saints is taken from the Eleventh Annual Joseph Smith Lecture, delivered by author and journalist Jana Riess at Newcomb Hall in Charlottesville, Va on October 24, 2025. Click here for more information about Dr. Riess and her lecture. You can follow along with the lecture slides here. Each fall, the University of Virginia's Mormon Studies Program sponsors the Joseph Smith Lecture Series: a public lecture on religion in public life, with particular emphasis...

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60:09

Inside UVA Mormon Studies (feat. Laurie Maffly-Kipp)

Scholars & Saints ·

2025/10/22

On today's bonus episode of Scholars & Saints, host Nicholas Shrum sits down with UVA's Richard Lyman Bushman Chair of Mormon Studies Laurie Maffly-Kipp. The two discuss Professor Maffly-Kipp's academic background and entrance into Mormon Studies, her goals and ongoing initiatives within the program, and what makes UVA such a unique place for the study of Mormonism. If you're looking to learn more about UVA Mormon Studies, and how Mormon Studies programs function at academic institut...

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71:16

Latter-day Saint Temples: Past and Present (feat....

Scholars & Saints ·

2025/10/08

Latter-day Saint temples and their rituals have been an oft discussed and frequently misunderstood element of Mormon practice. But how can scholars hope to understand Mormon temples when their rituals are exclusive to members, and their liturgies kept secret? Historian and scientist Jonathan Stapley discusses these questions on today's episode of Scholars & Saints. Drawing on his brand-new book, Holiness to the Lord: Latter-day Saint Temple Worship, Stapley, drawing on newly released and ...

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80:59

Mediated Mormons (feat. Rosemary Avance)

Scholars & Saints ·

2025/09/10

Our 21st century digital age provides countless and unprecedented opportunities for identity development and cultural engagement. But how might these new means of social interaction impact religious institutions and their public image? On today's episode of Scholars & Saints, host Nicholas Shrum seeks out these answers with the help of Oklahoma State University's Professor of Media and Strategic Communications Rosemary Avance. In her recent book, Mediated Mormons: Shifting Religious Ident...

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58:14

A Biographical Look at Joseph Smith (feat. John G....

Scholars & Saints ·

2025/07/16

200 years later, Joseph Smith, Jr. continues to draw popular and scholarly interest within the American imagination. But how can modern historians navigate diverse and controversial religious perspectives to offer a fair record of such a man's life? John G. Turner, Professor and Chair of Religious Studies at George Mason University, is the latest historian to undertake such an endeavor in his 2025 biography, Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet (Yale University Press). Dr. T...

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62:28

The Artistic Expressions of Latter-day Saints (feat....

Scholars & Saints ·

2025/06/18

In a world where new forms of media have enabled the artistic expression of numerous cultures and experiences, the question must be asked: how do the millions of Latter-day Saints around the globe define themselves artistically? This question is tackled by many Mormon Studies scholars in the 2024 book, Latter-day Saint Art: A Critical Reader. The book's editors, Mason Allred and Amanda Beardsley, sit down with host Nicholas Shrum for this episode of Scholars & Saints. Together, they discu...

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54:30

Queering the Mormon Cosmos (feat. Taylor Petrey)

Scholars & Saints ·

2025/05/14

Mormonism has been stereotypically conceived of as a patriarchal, heteronormative religion, from its past polygamy to its male-only priesthood. But what happens if you apply a queer studies lens to the faith? This task was taken up by Kalamazoo College's Chair of Religion Taylor G. Petrey in his recent book, Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos. On today's episode of Scholars & Saints, Dr. Petrey discusses the results of such an analysis with host Nicholas Shrum, focusing particularly on...

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61:16

Where Mormonism Meets Tax Law (feat. Sam Brunson)

Scholars & Saints ·

2025/04/16

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always been a great case study in the limits of religious liberty and tolerance in America. But what can the history of Mormonism tell us about U.S. tax history? According to Loyola University Chicago School of Law Professor Sam Brunson, quite a lot! Kicking off this new season of Scholars & Saints, Dr. Brunson sits down with host Nicholas Shrum to discuss his new book, Between the Temple and the Tax Collector: The Intersection of Mormon...

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48:15

Mormon Women Around the Globe (feat. Caroline Kline)

Scholars & Saints ·

2024/12/10

Women have always played a large role in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But how do women today, especially women of color, negotiate their faith through a historically patriarchal religion? And how can western scholars really probe this issue for women around the globe, without enforcing their own pre-conceived paradigms? On this episode of Scholars & Saints, Nicholas speaks with Dr. Caroline Kline, Assistant Director for Global Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate Unive...

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35:39

BONUS | JSL 2024 | Mormonism Through an African Lens...

Scholars & Saints ·

2024/11/12

This bonus episode of Scholars & Saints is taken from the Tenth Annual Joseph Smith Lecture, delivered by UVA's new Director of Mormon Studies, Laurie Maffly-Kipp at the Darden Center in Rosslyn, Va on October 19, 2024. Click here for more information about Prof. Maffly-Kipp and her lecture.Each fall, the University of Virginia's Mormon Studies Program sponsors the Joseph Smith Lecture Series: a public lecture on religion in public life, with particular emphasis on religious liberty and c...

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30:45

BONUS | Dissertation Possibilities in the Gregory A....

Scholars & Saints ·

2024/10/01

This bonus episode of Scholars & Saints is taken from the 2023 University of Virginia Mormon Studies research workshop entitled: "Mormonism in Africa and the African Diaspora." During the workshop, biomedical pathologist and LDS historian Dr. Gregory A. Prince delivered remarks on the depth of materials and research potentiality within the Gregory A. Prince Collection, a compilation of historical LDS documents and research materials Dr. Prince donated to UVA. To learn more about Dr. Princ...

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70:37

Second-Class Saints (feat. Matt Harris)

Scholars & Saints ·

2024/09/10

For over a century, the LDS Church forbade Black Latter-day Saints from temple ordinances, and Black men from the priesthood. How did Black Latter-day Saints experience this discrimination, and what effects and consequences of these restrictions carry over to today? On this episode of Scholars & Saints, Nicholas speaks with Dr. Matthew L. Harris, Professor of History and Director of Legal Studies at Colorado State University-Pueblo, about his 2024 book, Second Class Saints: Black Mormons ...

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47:25

BONUS | "Century of Black Mormons" As Quantitative...

Scholars & Saints ·

2024/08/30

This bonus episode of Scholars & Saints is taken from the 2023 University of Virginia Mormon Studies research workshop entitled: "Mormonism in Africa and the African Diaspora". During the workshop, Dr. W. Paul Reeve, Simmons Chair of Mormon Studies and Chair of the Department of History at the University of Utah, delivered this lecture detailing how data allows us to ask and answer new questions about Latter-day Saint racial history and illustrated his point with his database "A Century o...

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45:19

America's Homegrown Faith (feat. Benjamin Park)

Scholars & Saints ·

2024/08/13

How is it that Mormonism can be considered "America's most successful, homegrown religion" and yet have undergone vast assimilation to American culture in the late 19th and 20th centuries? Dr. Benjamin Park, Associate Professor of History at Sam Houston State University, details Mormonism's evolutions and transitions from its inception to today on this episode of Scholars & Saints. Drawing on his book, American Zion: A New History of Mormonism, Dr. Park takes host Nicholas Shrum on a hist...

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50:09

BONUS | Civil Religions: Evangelicals and Latter-Day...

Scholars & Saints ·

2024/08/06

This bonus episode of Scholars & Saints is taken from the 2023 Ninth Annual Joseph Smith Lecture, delivered by UPenn's Dr. Anthea Butler at the University of Virginia. Click here for more information about Dr. Butler and her lecture.Each fall, the University of Virginia's Mormon Studies Program sponsors the Joseph Smith Lecture Series: a public lecture on religion in public life, with particular emphasis on religious liberty and civic leadership. The Lecture is designed to honor the legac...

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59:55

The Mormon Minority in Ireland (feat. Hazel O'Brien)

Scholars & Saints ·

2024/07/18

Global Mormonism is an ever-growing field of study for scholars as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership has exploded throughout the Global South, especially in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. But how has Mormonism fared in Europe, especially in historically Catholic nations? Sociologist Hazel O'Brien takes host Nicholas Shrum on a tour of two pseudonymous LDS wards in the Republic of Ireland, mining the deep ethnographic depths of her 2023 book, Irish Mormons: Reco...

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47:35

At the Intersection of Race and Mormon Studies (feat....

Scholars & Saints ·

2024/06/10

How did early Mormons relate with African Americans and Native Americans in the 19th Century West? This is just one of the many questions tackled by the extensive research of W. Paul Reeve, the Simmons Chair of Mormon Studies at the University of Utah. In today's episode, Dr. Reeve discusses his academic journey from Western U.S. history to Mormon Studies, the University of Utah's programs in its Mormon Studies Initiative, and the expanding field of interdisciplinary research between Mormon S...

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47:59

From History to Mormon Studies (feat. Matthew Bowman)

Scholars & Saints ·

2024/04/16

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63 results

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