About the book
In the closing decades of the nineteenth century, college-age Latter-day Saints began undertaking a remarkable intellectual pilgrimage to the nation’s elite universities, including Harvard, Columbia, Michigan, Chicago, and Stanford. Thomas W. Simpson chronicles the academic migration of hundreds of LDS students from the 1860s through the late 1930s, when church authority J. Reuben Clark Jr., himself a product of the Columbia University Law School, gave a reactionary speech about young Mormons' search for intellectual cultivation. Clark’s leadership helped to set conservative parameters that in large part came to characterize Mormon intellectual life.
At the outset, Mormon women and men were purposefully dispatched to such universities to “gather the world’s knowledge to Zion.” Simpson, drawing on unpublished diaries, among other materials, shows how LDS students commonly described American universities as egalitarian spaces that fostered a personally transformative sense of freedom to explore provisional reconciliations of Mormon and American identities and religious and scientific perspectives. On campus, Simpson argues, Mormon separatism died and a new, modern Mormonism was born: a Mormonism at home in the United States but at odds with itself. Fierce battles among Mormon scholars and church leaders ensued over scientific thought, progressivism, and the historicity of Mormonism’s sacred past. The scars and controversy, Simpson concludes, linger.
Editions of American Universities and the Birth of Modern Mormonism, 1867–1940
- Hardcover
- ISBN 9781469630229
- Paperback
- ISBN 9781469628639
- EBook
- ISBN 9781469628653
- EBook
- ISBN 9798890848543
- EBook
- ISBN 9781469628646
- PDF
- ISBN 9798890848536
Read an Excerpt
In the closing decades of the nineteenth century, college-age Latter-day Saints began undertaking a remarkable intellectual pilgrimage to the nation’s elite universities, including Harvard, Columbia, Michigan, Chicago, and Stanford. Thomas W. Simpson chronicles the academic migration of hundreds of LDS students from the 1860s through the late 1930s, when church authority J. Reuben Clark Jr., himself a product of the Columbia University Law School, gave a reactionary speech about young Mormons' search for intellectual cultivation. Clark’s leadership helped to set conservative parameters that in large part came to characterize Mormon intellectual life.
At the outset, Mormon women and men were purposefully dispatched to such universities to “gather the world’s knowledge to Zion.” Simpson, drawing on unpublished diaries, among other materials, shows how LDS students commonly described American universities as egalitarian spaces that fostered a personally transformative sense of freedom to explore provisional reconciliations of Mormon and American identities and religious and scientific perspectives. On campus, Simpson argues, Mormon separatism died and a new, modern Mormonism was born: a Mormonism at home in the United States but at odds with itself. Fierce battles among Mormon scholars and church leaders ensued over scientific thought, progressivism, and the historicity of Mormonism’s sacred past. The scars and controversy, Simpson concludes, linger.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is American Universities and the Birth of Modern Mormonism, 1867–1940 about?
In the closing decades of the nineteenth century, college-age Latter-day Saints began undertaking a remarkable intellectual pilgrimage to the nation’s elite universities, including Harvard, Columbia, Michigan, Chicago, and Stanford. Thomas W. Simpson chronicles the academic migration of hundreds of LDS students from the 1860s through the late 1930s, when church authority J. Reuben Clark Jr., himself a product of the Columbia University Law School, gave a reactionary speech about young Mormons' search for intellectual cultivation. Clark’s leadership helped to set conservative parameters that in large part came to characterize Mormon intellectual life.
At the outset, Mormon women and men were purposefully dispatched to such universities to “gather the world’s knowledge to Zion.” Simpson, drawing on unpublished diaries, among other materials, shows how LDS students commonly described American universities as egalitarian spaces that fostered a personally transformative sense of freedom to explore provisional reconciliations of Mormon and American identities and religious and scientific perspectives. On campus, Simpson argues, Mormon separatism died and a new, modern Mormonism was born: a Mormonism at home in the United States but at odds with itself. Fierce battles among Mormon scholars and church leaders ensued over scientific thought, progressivism, and the historicity of Mormonism’s sacred past. The scars and controversy, Simpson concludes, linger.
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in American Universities and the Birth of Modern Mormonism, 1867–1940?
Philosophy and Religion > Religion and beliefs > Christianity > Christian Churches, denominations, groups > Denominations of American origin
Where can I read a sample of American Universities and the Birth of Modern Mormonism, 1867–1940?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9781469630229
How long is American Universities and the Birth of Modern Mormonism, 1867–1940 and how many pages does it have?
American Universities and the Birth of Modern Mormonism, 1867–1940 has 246 page(s)
Who is/are the Author/s of the book American Universities and the Birth of Modern Mormonism, 1867–1940?
Thomas W. Simpson
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
American Universities and the Birth of Modern Mormonism, 1867–1940 is available as hardcover(ISBN 9781469630229) and paperback(ISBN 9781469628639) and ebook(ISBN 9781469628653) and ebook(ISBN 9798890848543) and ebook(ISBN 9781469628646) and pdf(ISBN 9798890848536)
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Where can I buy American Universities and the Birth of Modern Mormonism, 1867–1940?