The Next Mormons (Oxford University Press, 2019)

I’m honored to say that the Claremont Mormon Studies program has organized a one-day conference around The Next Mormons book and research, with scholars and other interested folks coming from all over the country to discuss the research and its implications.

“Millennial Saints: Generational Change in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” will run from 9 to 4:30 on Saturday in the Albrecht Auditorium at Claremont. The event is free and open to the public, but in an ideal world you’re supposed to register in advance here.

It’s a pretty exciting lineup of with political scientists, sociologists, a data analyst, a journalist, historians and actual bona fide Mormon Millennials so we’re not just all talking about them like they’re not in the room. Here’s the conference program. I hope to see you there.

Conference Schedule

9:00   Welcome and Introduction

• Patrick Mason, Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies, Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities, Claremont Graduate University

9:10   Opening Keynote Lecture

• Jana Riess, author of The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church

9:50   Data on Millennials and Religion

• Becka Alper, Pew Research Center

10:15 Break

10:30 Millennials and Religion: Comparative Perspectives
Moderator: Roger Cook, Claremont Graduate University

• Matthew Loveland, Associate Professor of Sociology and Political Science, Le Moyne College
• Aprilfaye Manalang, Assistant Professor of History and Interdisciplinary Studies, Norfolk State University

11:20 Break

11:30 Social Scientific Responses to The Next Mormons
Moderator: Kenneth Adkins, Claremont Graduate University

• John Bartkowski, Professor of Sociology, University of Texas at San Antonio
• Phil Zuckerman, Professor of Sociology, Pitzer College
• Benjamin Knoll, John Marshall Harlan Associate Professor of Politics, Centre College

12:30 Lunch – catered lunch available in the lobby

1:00 Keynote Lecture

• David Campbell, Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy, University of Notre Dame

1:45 Situating The Next Mormons in Mormon Studies
Moderator: Rebekah Call, Claremont Graduate University

• Spencer Fluhman, Executive Director of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship and Associate Professor of History, Brigham Young University
• Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Archer Alexander Distinguished Professor at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, Washington University in St. Louis
• Armand Mauss, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Religious Studies, Washington State University

2:45 Break

3:00 Millennial Saints Respond
Moderator and Discussion Facilitator: Jana Riess, author of The Next Mormons: How Millennials are Changing the LDS Church

• Rosemary Card, CEO and founder of Q.NOOR, author of Model Mormon: Fighting for Self-Worth on the Runway and as an Independent Woman
• Phil Ngo, senior software engineer at Open Energy Efficiency
• Judy Pham, training executive at Shiseido Cosmetics America
• Calvin Burke, history major, Brigham Young University

4:00 Concluding Comments

• Peggy Fletcher Stack, The Salt Lake Tribune