It’s a great day. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Philip Barlow has been selected as the Utah State University Leonard Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture (thanks to Mormon Wasp for the heads up).

Perhaps the most interesting quote from the article for me is, At USU, Barlow will not be discussing or promoting his faith. ‘We are not teaching Mormon doctrine or theology . . . or testing the truth of it,’ said Norman L. Jones, history department chairman. ‘We are looking at what people do because they believe certain things.'”

I’m excited because he’s in Logan. :)

I’m also excited because Philip Barlow is the editor of one of my favorite Mormon-themed books of all time — “A Thoughtful Faith.” Check it out of you get a sec.

5 Comments

  1. Tom Grover February 13, 2007 at 12:34 pm

    For Mormons, USU is a one-of-a-kind environment. You can literally be any kind of Mormon you wish, without hostility or resitance.

    But I am biased.

    I am glad to see the selection has finally been made. This is an important position and it will be interesting to see what kind of lectures and other materials, if any, will be made available to the general public.

    Any chance you can get Dr. Barlow on Mormon Stories, John?

  2. John Dehlin February 13, 2007 at 12:35 pm

    I’ll definitely give it my all.

  3. Steve EM February 13, 2007 at 1:05 pm

    It’s a short sighted tragedy that Quinn has been blacklisted. If this apparent lightweight does anything meaningful in Mormon Studies while BKP is functional, he’ll end up ex’ed. My guess is he’ll just warm Arrington’s seat and the only serious Mormon scholarship will continue to occur outside of Mormondom.

  4. Trevor February 13, 2007 at 9:39 pm

    I hardly think it is a foregone conclusion that a loyal scholar will necessarily be a boring one. I would imagine that there is a lot of work that can be done in Mormonism that does not require raising Elder Packer’s hackles. Rough Stone is evidence that important work can be done without it resulting in Church discipline.

    Having said that, I think it is lamentable that Quinn was relegated to the fringes of the Mormon community.

  5. Anne Hutchinson February 14, 2007 at 12:48 am

    I also would be interested in a podcast featuring Phil Barlow. I have read and re-read Barlow’s book, “A Thoughtful Faith” through the years.

    I would be interested in hearing an update on his own “Thoughtful Faith” and about what he’ll be doing next at USU.

Comments are closed.