Boyd Petersen

I gave this presentation at the Miller-Eccles study group in California this spring: Dialogue Podcast #29 w/Editor Boyd Petersen

This is going to be a shocking admission, but I’m a Democrat. While I disagree with my party and my party’s candidates quite frequently, I still identify with and support Democrats. Back when I worked for Congress, I started collecting campaign buttons from Democratic races. I’ve got all the presidential campaigns from Grover Cleveland (1884) … More Rainbows at Church

William A. Wilson, former BYU English Professor and folklorist extraordinaire, passed away this past week. In his honor, I am posting a review I wrote in 2008 for the Journal of Mormon History of Wilson’s book The Marrow of Human Experience: Essays on Folklore. I returned from my mission to France in 1982 filled with … More In Praise of William A. “Bert” Wilson

The BYU Honor Code has come under fire recently, and I don’t want to detract from that discussion, but it has caused me to reflect back on my own run-in with the Honor Code back in March 1984. I’m pretty sure it was my friend Kent’s idea that we should run for ASBYU president and … More Of Haircuts and Honor

My first issue of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought is online today! It features articles by Fiona Givens, Mel Bashore, and Dennis Potter; poetry by Mark Brown, Warren Hatch, Sarah Page, Jenny Webb, fiction by Stephen Carter; a Mormon-Catholic dialogue featuring Polly Aird, Zina Petersen (!), Dan Dwyer, Mat Schmaltz, and Bob Rees; a wonderful … More The Continuing Importance of Dialogue

Today begins Utah Valley University’s annual Mormon studies conference, this year on the theme of “Mormonism and the Art of Boundary Maintenance.” (The event is free and open to the public, so please join us if you are able to.) For the next three days, we will explore how America in general and American Christians … More Infidel versus Heretic: Correct Belief in Mormon Boundary Maintenance

Graffiti scrawled across a railroad trestle crossing the Washington, DC beltway warns drivers, “surrender Dorothy,” just before they round the corner and the LDS temple rises like the Emerald City. The temple and visitor center were among our favorite places to visit when Zina and I lived in the DC area in the late 1980s … More Portraits of Jesus: To Celebrate Holy Week

When I was a child growing up in Provo, I remember hearing all kinds of horror stories about the “Great and Abominable” Catholic Church. It was common idea, especially since the first edition of Bruce R. McConkie’s Mormon Doctrine had identified it as such. I remember Primary and Sunday School lessons about how Catholics worship Mary, or … More Mormon Relics

  Recently, Elder M. Russell Ballard urged Church educators to “consult the works of recognized, thoughtful, and faithful LDS scholars to ensure you do not teach things that are untrue, out of date, or odd and quirky.” As I have already stated, I am thrilled with this new direction and believe it’s a very positive … More “I Know It When I See It:” The Puzzle of Faithful Scholarship

I have been teaching a course on Mormon literature at Utah Valley University for over ten years. But in 2014 I was given the opportunity to teach a similar course at Brigham Young University. I’ve taught as adjunct faculty at BYU for almost as many years as I’ve taught at UVU, and I often joke … More Elder Ballard and the Retooling of CES Pedagogy