Tomorrow my wife and I will be flying out to Snowbird for the Mormon History Association’s annual conference. This is one of our favorite outings every year, and MHA is one of my favorite academic events. This year I had the great privilege to work with Melissa Inouye in putting together the program, aided of course by a great committee. I really think the final product turned out great, as the breadth and depth of this year’s sessions attest. Here are a few sessions/events that I’m especially excited about:

• The Opening Reception on Thursday night features the excellent Lower Lights–the MHA becomes hip! If you are not registered for the conference you can still attend for the very affordable price of $10. It should be a lot of fun.
• I’ll be participating in two panels, one as a chair/respondent and another as a moderator. On Friday I’ll be responding to a paper by Gregory Prince that is based on his recent Leonard Arrington biography (which I’ve highlighted here). And on Saturday I’ll be moderating a discussion on teaching Mormon studies in the classroom.
• There are quite a few sessions that I’m particularly looking forward to. The star-studded panel on the Council of Fifty Minutes should be great, as will the diverse luncheon panel on international Mormonism. There’s a group of young scholars analyzing Mormon studies on Youtube which should be interesting. The downside of having so many great sessions is that I’ll likely miss more than I’d like to make!
• The books! There are a number of book signings throughout the weekend sponsored by various presses. The University of Utah Press, for instance, is hosting a signing with Greg Prince, Matthew Bowman, and Kate Holbrook on Friday, and with Dave Hall and Gary Shepherd on Saturday. Signature Books is hosting a party for the new books by John Hammond and Marti Bradley. And all the other great presses–including Kofford, Maxwell Institute, and University of Illinois–will have their typically great selections in the exhibit room. (I have a long list of books I plan to pick up from Benchmark Books.)
• And, of course, I’m excited for all the mini-gatherings and meals with old friends and colleagues–the real reason for the conference!

Should be a fun week!