The organizers of the Brazilian Mormon Studies Conference seek papers and other presentations for the initial Brazilian Mormon Studies Conference, to be held January 23, 2010 in São Paulo, Brazil. The conference will be presented in Portuguese, Spanish and English, with interpreting for those who do not speak one of those languages.
We invite those interested to submit proposals for scholarly papers, panel discussions, interviews, personal essays, sermons, films, dramatic performances, literary readings, debates, comic routines, art displays, musical performances and other expressions of the Mormon experience. While this conference is to be academic in nature, we encourage submissions from students, non-academics and from amateurs who have interesting and well-expressed presentations to make. Submissions may be on any subject, as long as they involve Mormonism, its history, people or institutions in a significant way. Fields of study might include History, Philosophy and Theology, Sociology and Anthropology, and all expressions of culture, including art, music, literature and film.
The theme of this conference is The Latin American Influence on Mormonism, and presenters are encouraged, but not required, to choose topics that reflect that theme. Topics on this theme might include:
- Reactions to Mormon Missionaries in Latin America
- The Relationship of Mormons to established Churches in Latin America
- The Perception of Mormonism as a U.S. religion
- The history of LDS public relations efforts in Latin America
- etcetera
Because the majority of the audience for this conference has not experienced a similar conference, we will accept submissions that have been presented or published elsewhere.
Those who would like to present or organize a session for the conference should submit either a full paper or a description of their proposed session by December 1, 2009 (we would also love to hear from those interested as soon as possible). Those seeking approval of their paper topics before they write, should send a proposal before November 1, 2009. Full papers should be suitable for a reading time of 25-30 minutes (approximately 3,500 words). Proposals should be approximately 1 page in length (250 words). All submissions should be accompanied by a brief description of the author’s background, or a résumé or CV.
Send submissions to the conference organizers at BMSC10 [at] gmail [dot] com