Recently I helped create a new website titled Mormon Women Scholars’ Network. Its expressed goal is to create:
A PLACE FOR WOMEN TO CONNECT, COMMUNICATE, COLLABORATE, AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION IN MORMON STUDIES, RELIGIOUS SCHOLARSHIP, AND RELATED DISCIPLINES.
As covered by Amanda in Juvenile Instructor, there is a void of women in Mormon studies. I have been to conferences where very few women even attend and I feel lucky if even one women presents. The lack of women contributing to the field of Mormon studies is disturbing. There are numerous obstacles that women face when diving into Mormon studies some are tied to the cultural place of women in having a voice in church doctrine, but a lot of them are due to personal beliefs about ability and skill.
The Mormon Women Scholars’ Network is designed to help women overcome the barriers of entry. We provide a list of calls for papers, an extensive list of conference and journals. We provide and ever growing list of resources on Mormon studies and general academic tools.
The site is based around the principles of collaboration and networking with the hope of inspiring more women to become active participants in the area of Mormon Studies. Women live so many different types of lives, and Mormon Women Scholars’ Network believes that scholarly skills can be acquired and refined. Sheryl Sandberg in her new book Lean In made the important observation that women don’t take chances unless they think they will be flawless at it. But that holds women back, it leaves important conversations, topics, and projects unsaid or non-existent. But studies have shown that women are less likely to speak up if they are part of a very small minority of women in the room (there are exceptions of course).
We are still working on perfecting the site, adding resources, and improving the content. Please stop by and leave feedback or suggestions on how it can be improved. Come connect and create amazing work in Mormon studies.
We also have a Facebook page and a twitter account.
Jessica Finnigan
Jessica is a Master's Student at King's College London, where she studies religion in the contemporary world. She recently completed an advanced Diploma in Religious Studies at the University of Cambridge. She earned a Bachelors from BYU in Marriage, Family, and Human Development. She is married to her best friend, and they have 4 daughters.
All posts by Jessica Finnigan
Jessica,
Only on rare occasions have I noticed LDS women speaking on doctrinal, and less frequently, on LDS historical issues; unless it has to do with “women’s history”.
I’ve watched and listened to “round-table” discussions through BYU and The Interpreter Journal in which women participate, but rarely do they say something interesting. It saddens me.
Now, on the other hand, I have listened to podcasts through the Open Stories Foundation and other non-official LDS out-lets where the women spoke powerfully, and with confidence (and without the Primary sing-songy voice). I loved it!! I am almost ashamed at how happy I get when I hear their voices. We need more.
Jessica, this looks wonderful. Thank you for creating the group and for sharing this here. I think you are right that “personal beliefs about ability and skill” hold us back. When I saw the title of this post, I thought, “I can’t be one of those women because I don’t have a PhD and won’t be going to any theologic seminaries or whatever.” But if this is a place for any intelligent, thoughtful, Mormon woman who wants to be able to write scholarly papers and/or speak with confidence about meaningful matters with regard to the LDS faith, then it is a place I would like to visit.
This is great. A few years back, I was stuck over this same topic. I had done a lot of studying and thinking, and felt that I had good things to contribute. But I would walk through the isles of Deseret Book and see that nearly all the serious or scholarly religious books were written by men, and that women dominated the self-help section–flowers, encouraging poems written in pretty script, that sort of thing. I’d watch BYUTV episodes with a table full of Mormon scripture scholars who were almost always men. I had other women tell me they were too busy cleaning and taking care of the kids to study scriptures, and that they were glad to let their husbands be the theologians of the house just so they didn’t have one more thing to worry about. And on and on–it was very discouraging. This website is exactly what we need!