In 2018, the Joseph Smith Papers Project will release volume four of the Revelations and Translations Series, consisting of Book of Abraham manuscripts and related documents. To celebrate the publication of this volume, the project is sponsoring a conference on the topic of translation and Latter-day Saint history on October 26, 2018, at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah. We invite proposals for scholarly papers related to Joseph Smith and translation for this conference. Papers could cover subjects such as the concept of translation in the nineteenth century, Latter-day Saint or nineteenth-century understandings of ancient languages, the production of Latter-day Saint scripture or biblical translation/revision. We encourage papers that utilize the Revelations and Translations series of the Joseph Smith Papers to illuminate the ministry and work of Joseph Smith, how Joseph Smith and other Saints understood the gift of translation, and the methods behind specific translation projects.
Paper proposals should consist of a brief abstract (no more than 500 words) and a current C.V., and should be sent to Brent Rogers (bmrogers@ldschurch.org) by March 31. Authors of accepted papers will receive an advance copy of Revelations and Translations volume four of the Joseph Smith Papers. Some funding for travel is available for graduate students accepted to participate in the conference. Scholars will be notified of acceptance by April 27.
The Joseph Smith Papers Project is an effort to gather together all extant Joseph Smith documents and to publish complete and accurate transcripts of those documents with both textual and contextual annotation online and in print. All such documents will be published electronically at www.josephsmithpapers.org, and a large number of the documents will also be published in approximately two dozen print volumes. The print and electronic publications constitute an essential resource for scholars and students of the life and work of Joseph Smith, early Mormon history, and nineteenth-century American religion.