USU has new religious studies program
Of all the human differences that have problems in history, none has been nearly as divisive in Utah as religion, said USU history department head Norm Jones.
Difficulty between races or ethnicities in the state has never come close to the level of hostility that has often existed between Mormons and non-Mormons, Jones said. It is because of this history of animosity that the creation of the new religious studies program at USU is so important.
“If there’s a place in the United States that needs to be able to have a conversation about religion where you don’t have to take sides, this is it,” Jones said.
The purpose of the program, and religious studies in general, is not to examine whether any religion’s beliefs are true, but to understand how religion affects people and culture, Jones said. Sociology, philosophy, history, psychology and other fields of study all play a role in religious studies, he said. USU’s program will cover all the world’s religions, but it will focus especially on the study of Mormonism because of the significant role it plays in the region.
Because of this, a position focusing specifically on Mormon studies has been created. Philip Barlow, a Harvard-trained professor of theology and American religious history, has been hired as the Leonard J. Arrington chair of Mormon history and culture, and will begin teaching classes Spring Semester 2008.
Barlow was raised in Bountiful and got bachelor’s degrees in history and psychology at Weber State University. After graduating, he talked to someone who studied religion at Harvard and realized that the aspects of psychology, history and science that interested him were topics of religious studies, he said.
Because he is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Barlow went to Harvard wanting to study “everything but Mormonism,” he said. Eventually, however, he came to realize that his position as a Mormon and a Utah native made him well-equipped to study Mormonism. With the encouragement of his professors, he became “converted to the idea of studying Mormonism,” he said.
His studies focused on religion in American culture, and he earned both a master’s degree and a ThD. from Harvard. While he was at Harvard, he also taught at the LDS Institute, where his students came from Harvard and MIT. Teaching at the Institute was different than teaching religious studies, he said, because his duties there were to promote the LDS faith and also to care for his fellow Mormons. In religious studies, the goal is to analyze and understand religion rather than promote it.
After two years teaching as a post-doctoral fellow at Rochester University in New York, Barlow found a job as a professor of theological studies at Hanover College in Indiana, a small liberal arts school. He has been at Hanover College since 1990.
Though Barlow is LDS, he emphasized he won’t be promoting Mormon beliefs in his classes. Instead, he’ll teach students to consider Mormonism academically. Engaging in Mormon studies requires critical thinking about Mormonism, he said, but it is also important to be sensitive to people’s deeply held beliefs. Scholars must ensure that they are accurate in their descriptions of religion so that people and their beliefs aren’t shown as distorted “caricatures,” he said.
Studying religion sometimes means coming to terms with difficult issues from the past, and Mormonism is no exception, Barlow said. It is important to come to terms with issues such as polygamy or the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857 and understand them in context rather than focusing on sensational details.
Barlow said he hopes Mormon studies will be “distinctively important” in Utah. It is important for LDS people and anyone who lives in Utah to examine Mormonism, he said.
“To not study Mormonism is to forfeit a major opportunity to understand the context in which you live,” he said.
USU’s religious studies program is the first such program in the state. Public institutions in the region have been reluctant to discuss religion because nearly everyone has strong feelings about it, and it can be a very touchy topic, Jones said.
Knowing how sensitive religious matters can be in Utah, Jones and his colleagues, including current USU President Stan Albrecht and HASS Dean Gary Kiger, decided to seek input from religious communities and other universities before beginning to set up the program in 2001.
They talked to faculty at the Logan LDS Institute and leaders of congregations of many faiths. Though they thought someone might object, everyone they talked to was enthusiastic about the idea, Jones said. Faculties from other universities were also supportive. They began to raise funds through donations and seek approval from the Board of Trustees. The program began to take shape, and last year the university hired Charles Prebish, an expert on Buddhism, as the Charles Redd chair of religious studies.
Barlow and Jones both said the university and the state have “matured” to a point where a religious studies program will be accepted in Utah. In many ways, the student body of USU is ideally situated to pursue religious studies, Jones said. Many students return from LDS missions with increased interest in their own religion and the religions they encountered in other parts of the world, he said. Also, the ability to speak a foreign language helps many students.
Students can now earn a bachelor’s degree or minor in religious studies, and the program will have its first graduate at the end of this semester. During the past several years, Trevor Alvord has taken the classes necessary to graduate in religious studies, even though the degree was not yet available.
Alvord, who is from Ogden, said he chose to come to USU because of the folklore and religious studies programs and because of the encouragement of Jones. He has been very pleased with the program, he said.
“I cannot express my appreciation for the teachers here. The teaching is amazing,” he said. “There are some brilliant people here.”
Alvord said he was never very religious as a child, but he “caught the fire” in his late teens. He began to spend a lot of time dealing with religion and thinking about religious philosophies and concepts, he said. It seemed natural that his interest in religion should evolve into the topic of his education, he said.
Some scholars don’t consider Mormon studies to be a serious topic, Alvord said. The program and the hiring of Barlow will help to give credibility to the university and Mormon studies.
“I think religious studies will be the best thing that’s happened to Utah State in a long time,” he said. “The community here is so passionate about religion, and this will add an academic level to it.”
Ultimately, the importance of a religious studies program in Utah is to teach students to understand not only Mormonism, but the religions of all people.
“In the world we live in, I don’t think anyone can deny the power of religion,” Alvord said. “It’s the university’s job to make sure students have the tools to talk about these things.”
-dfelix@cc.usu.edu