Kiger Hour: Mormon Scholar to Discuss Conflicts with Presidential Campaign Coverage
Nearly every election season, Philip Barlow, the Leonard Arrington Professor of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University, is contacted by members of the press for insights about how a Mormon president would lead the nation. Barlow will discuss his experience communicating religious complexity into palatable clips for reporters at the next Kiger Hour May 17.
His talk, “Religion in Soundbites: Dealing with Media in the Presidential Campaign,” reveals the challenges scholars face when discussing their research in a medium not designed for nuance. Barlow, director of USU’s Religious Studies Program, has recently been quoted in “The New York Times,” “Al Jazeera” and “USA Today” for his take on Mitt Romney and the impact of his faith on his candidacy for president. For Barlow, conversing with members of the press on matters as multifaceted and sensitive as religion can be like mastering another language.
“The results can be effective, admirable, distorting, dangerous or comic,” he said. “News reporters in television and print media speak a different language – and work in different time zones – than scholars. The former search to distill the essence of sometimes complex issues to single paragraphs or sentences, and may have only days or hours to craft their work. Scholars, by contrast, conduct their research over months and years, perhaps conveying their analysis in articles and books.”
Barlow is an expert of American religion and Mormonism. He has authored several books and dozens of articles on American religion and Mormonism. He is the co-editor of the forthcoming Oxford “Handbook to Mormonism.”
Learn more about his research and experience with the media during Kiger Hour, an intellectual program presented by Utah State University and sponsored by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Caine College of the Arts. The event will be held Thursday, May 17, from 5:15 to 7 p.m. at Hamilton’s Steak and Seafood, 2427 N. Main St., Logan.
A buffet with appetizers, desserts and soft drinks, iced tea or coffee is available. Cost is $6.95 per person (plus tax and gratuity) and billed on an individual basis. Guests can also order from the menu, and a cash bar is available. For planning purposes, please RSVP to Natalie Archibald Smoot in the college office, 435-797-2796, or e-mail, natalie.archibald@usu.edu.