Call for Papers: Mormon Thought and Engineering Vision

Posted on September 23, 2008
Filed Under Philosophy |

I’ve been remiss in not posting some of these. I’ll try to be better in the future. If you’re interested in these call for papers go to call for papers website which just lists all of these LDS academic paper calls.

The Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies in the School of Religion at Claremont Graduate University is pleased to sponsor a conference on:

Parallels and Convergences: Mormon Thought and Engineering VisionLocation:
Claremont Graduate University, 150 E. 10th Street, Claremont, CA 91711

Important Dates:
Abstract deadline: 2008 December 1 (extended abstract)
Conference: 2009 March 7 (Saturday)

Topics:
The Howard W Hunter Chair is interested in expanding the discussion of Latter-day Saint (LDS) perspectives on the attributes of God and the potential of man through a variety of innovative directions. One of the directions to be explored is whether there is a possible resonance between Mormon and engineering thought. An assumption can be made that, according to LDS understanding, God is the architect of the Creation and the engineer of our bodies and spirits. Man, on the other hand, is believed to be capable of growing to become like God. The theological question is: where does engineering fit in the convergence of these two realms?

Papers for Parallels and Convergences: Mormon Thought and Engineering Vision should present scholarly discussions that explore scriptural background and LDS philosophy, set in the context of engineering and technology.

Topics can include, but are not limited to:

Agency Intelligence Artificial Intelligence
Spirit World Engineering Spirits Simulations
Mortality Engineering Bodies Genetic Engineering
Immortality Life Extension Nanotechnology
The Atonement Transfiguration Robotics
Eternal Life Progression Self-replicating Systems
Resurrection Genome / Genealogy DNA Reverse Engineering
Plurality of Gods Worlds without End Engineering Worlds
Creation Terraforming Cosmoforming

Extended Abstracts:
An extended abstract should be a complete summary of the proposed paper, possibly with a paragraph for each major section. Figures and a reference list are especially encouraged. An abstract template (Rich Text Format) has been provided for the convenience of the authors.

Extended abstracts are due on 1 December 2008, submitted via email to “abstracts” at this site .

The conference committee will select a limited number of abstracts for development into full papers based on thematic compatibilities and the overall promise of illuminating the conference theme.

Queries:

Sponsored by the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies and the Mormon Scholars Foundation. Depending on the level of interest, a moderated email list, forum, or blog may be established on this webpage for discussion.

Note: the email addresses on this page are generated using JavaScript to avoid spam mining. If you have trouble seeing the emails, please download the PDF version of this Call for Papers.

Parallels and Convergences: Mormon Thought and Engineering Vision is being independently organized by the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies in the School of Religion at Claremont Graduate University, and does not have any official ties to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Comments

2 Responses to “Call for Papers: Mormon Thought and Engineering Vision”

Clark,

Thanks for the link to MormonConferences.org.

The first thought I had when I saw this Call for Papers was that now the Mormon Transhumanists have a venue to present their views! I see this conference as forum for a discussion of ethics in the modern world. One person I spoke with disparaged this event as an exercise in fruitless speculation. I, however, enjoy speculative theology, so I am hoping for some good fruit.

Clark, if you or anyone else that reads this would like to help advertise for this conference, there are images in many standard web-ad sizes that you can post to your blog or other web site here:

http://transfigurism.org/community/photos/conference_ads/default.aspx

If you use one, please link it to the conference site:

http://mormonism-engineering.org

Thanks!

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