Mormon Studies may join University of Utah curriculum

When Philip Barlow left Utah to study religion formally in Boston he had no intention of studying anything to do with Mormonism, but as he studied the sources and evidences that scholars used to make their conclusions about religion he came to a realization.\"It gradually dawned on me that I was sitting on the world's richest gold vein of sources for the study of religion back in my old homeland. And so I surprised myself by writing my dissertation on a Mormon topic,\" Barlow said.Barlow is now the Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University. At a gathering at the University of Utah campus Tuesday, Sept. 8, he and Brian Birch, founder and director of the religious studies program at Utah Valley University, discussed the possibility of a Mormon Studies program at the U.\"My vision for Mormon Studies is to create a space wherein diverse methodologies and perspectives are allowed voice,\" Birch said. \"This imagined space would protect, facilitate and cultivate ideological diversity.\"Such a space would welcome critics, apologists, dispassionate scholars and interested observers — so long as they contributed to what Birch called a \"rich and stimulating academic discussion.\"Barlow thinks there are some attitudes that may need to be changed to make a Mormon Studies program a success in Salt Lake City.\"In an environment like Salt Lake City one is less than a competent citizen if one does not know Mormonism in a more probing way than one can achieve by casual encounter on the streets,\" Barlow said.\"Conversely, the LDS students at the University of Utah need to know that their church encourages secular knowledge and religious knowledge. And they need to know that religious studies represents the opportunity for crucial secular knowledge about a religious topic. Many of them are going to think, 'Why do I need secular knowledge about my religion?' This is a bit like thinking 'God made my body, why would I need medical knowledge about my body?'\"Barlow

said the U. needs to use its religious studies program

to build bridges with religious institutions near the campus, such as

the Catholic Newman Center and the LDS Institute of Religion.Gary L. Poll, associate director of the LDS Institute of Religion at the University of Utah, responded to Barlow by mentioning how well the university works with the various religious groups around the campus. \"I think (the religious studies program) is a great opportunity for the University of Utah to show that we can do something in a friendly way; in a scholarly way,\" Poll said. \"Personally I am looking forward to see how it develops and to help in any way that I can.\"