The Association for Mormon Letters held its annual conference in Laie, Hawaii, on the Brigham Young University – Hawaii campus, on Friday, March 4th and Saturday, March 5th, 2016. The theme for the 2016 conference was “Narrative Art and Mormons in a Global Age.”
Friday, March 4th
10:30 – Welcome/Opening by AML President Joe Plicka – Heber J. Grant Building (HGB) 133
10:45-12:00 – Session 1 – HGB 133
SURVEYING THE LITERATURES
“Mormon Literature in Japan” – Andrew Hall, Kyushu University, Japan
“The Mormon Maritime Migration in Meter” – William Brugger, BYU-Idaho
“Housewifery Literature and Application: A Folklife Project” – Kristi Bell, BYU-Provo
12:15-1:00 – Session 2
MORMONISM IN CONVERSATION: 20TH CENTURY DEVELOPMENTS
“Black Skin, White Shirts: American and Igbo Mormonisms,” – Russell Stevenson, Michigan State University
“Framing Conversion: Edgar Reitz’s Mahlzeiten (1965) and the Mormons” – Mason Kamana Allred, Joseph Smith Papers
1:00-1:30 – BREAK – Lunch in the HGB
1:30-2:30 – LUNCHTIME PANEL DISCUSSION —“Mormon Literature Today/My Favorite Mormon Book” with Scott Hales (Mormon Literature Scholar, Church History Department), Andrew Hall (Kyushu University, AML Awards Director), Margaret Young (BYU-Provo, LDS author) – HGB 133
2:45-3:30 – Session 2 – HGB – 133
MISSIONARIES ABROAD AND AT HOME
“Returning with Honor: How Blogging Enables Early Returned LDS Missionaries to Adopt a Positive Identity” – Lauren Baldwin, BYU-Idaho
“Dan and Back Again: Reverse Culture Shock” – Daniel Christensen, University of Utah
3:45-5:00 – Session 3 – HGB 133
CONTEMPORARY MORMON POETS
“Ezer Kenegdo” – Jim Richards, BYU-Idaho
Selected poems – Jim Papworth, BYU-Idaho
“Reliquaries Lost and Found: The Gathering and Scattering of Faith” – Scott Cameron, BYU-Idaho
5:00-7:00 – BREAK
7:00 – Keynote Address/University Welcome by BYU-Hawaii President John Tanner – HGB 275
8:30 – Screening of Freetown – Introduction and Q and A with filmmaker Garrett Batty, director of Freetown (2015) and The Saratov Approach (2013) – McKay Auditorium
Saturday, March 5th (7:30 am-3:00 pm — Registration/info. table open in the Heber J. Grant Building)
7:30-9:00 – Continental breakfast in the Heber J. Grant Building (HGB)
8:00-9:15 – Session 4 – HGB 135
21ST CENTURY: TRENDS, PORTRAYALS, REACTIONS
“The Image of Mormonism: How 21st Century Media Portrays Mormonism” – Trevor Alvord, BYU-Provo
“Art and Performance: Responses to the LGBT Policy Change” – Rixa Freeze, Wabash College
“MormonsIntoMedia.com: How a Digi-zine Demonstrates the Trend from Congregation to Interpretative Community” – Dan Stout, BYU-Hawaii
9:30-10:45 – Session 5 – HGB 135
CONTEMPORARY MORMON ESSAYS AND MEMOIR
“Turning on City Lights: (a memoir)” – Amanda Wallace, BYU-Hawaii
Selected essays – Sheldon Lawrence, BYU-Idaho
Hemingway on a Bicycle (2014 AML Award Winner, Creative Nonfiction) – Eric Freeze, Wabash College
11:00-12:00 – AML Awards Ceremony – HGB 135
12:00-12:30 – BREAK – Lunch in the HGB
12:30-1:30 – LUNCHTIME PANEL DISCUSSION —“Balancing Art and Life: an LDS Perspective” with Rebecca Carlson, Dan Bradshaw, Melissa Glenn, Kealohilani, Jeff Merrill, Margaret Young, and Garrett Batty – HGB 135
1:45-3:00 – Session 6 – HGB 135
MORMON IDENTITIES – TRANSLATED ACROSS TIME AND SPACE
“Phyllis Barber and T.R.I.P.S.: The Relational Intimate Permeating Self” – Angel Chaparro Sainz, University of the Basque Country
“The Narrative Art of Mark’s Passion Narrative and Some Implications for Mormon Readers” – Julie M. Smith, Independent Scholar
“’Are We Americans?’: Nephi Anderson, the Novel, and Global Mormon Identity” – Scott Hales, Church History Department
3:15-4:15 – Session 7 – HGB 135
LDS UNDERCURRENTS IN POPULAR ART
“The Rule of Equity” (a novel) – Jonathan Neville, Author
“’Coracao’ by the National Parks: Collaborating Across Mediums” (A sneak peek at The National Parks’ latest music video) – Jake Cutler (BYU-Hawaii, band manager), Brady Parks (singer), and Tay Steele (director of photography)
4:15-6:00 – BREAK
6:00-7:00 – Banquet Dinner – TBA
7:30 – Keynote Address by Terryl and Fiona Givens – “Beauty for Ashes” – HGB 275