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Mormons discuss Book of Abraham translation

July 15, 2014

A nearly 3,000-word article posted recently on the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) says the Book of Abraham is inspired scripture and probably not a literal translation from ancient Egyptian scrolls by Mormon founder Joseph Smith.

The essay marks a departure from past explanations by LDS officials and embraces the widely-held view from religious scholars and historians that Smith’s work isn’t a direct translation, said Armand Mauss, a retired professor of sociology and religious studies at WSU.

“It is an official recognition — even a concession — that Joseph Smith could not, and did not, ‘translate’ any scriptures in the literal, scholarly sense that is usually implied by the term ‘translate,'” Mauss said.

The article recognizes that it’s impossible to know how exactly Smith used the papyri to write the Book of Abraham. There were no eyewitnesses to the translation process, and only fragments of the scrolls exist today, the article says. It notes that Smith never claimed to know the language it was in.

Through May 16: Exhibit considers Hanford residents

May 16, 2014

WSU history graduate students studying the oral histories of the Hanford Site have created an exhibit of its labor force and residents, running through May 16 in the atrium exhibit case of Terrell Library at WSU Pullman.

“Hanford’s Voices: Exploring Labor at Hanford Through the Stories of its Residents” pulled together students from the Vancouver, Tri-Cities and Pullman campuses enrolled in History 528, “Seminar in Public History,” according to course participant and history master’s student Robert Franklin.

To create the exhibit, the students relied on the Hanford History Partnership, which has collected narratives of the men and women who lived in the area before 1943 and who worked at the Hanford Site after.

Learn more about the exhibit

At Evangelical Christian Colleges, Leadership Is Often the Family Business

May 10, 2014

During the past school year, several leading American universities welcomed top scholars and experienced administrators as their new presidents. And none of them—not one—inherited the job from his father or mother.

That goes without saying, right? Nonprofit, tax-exempt universities are not typically family dynasties. But at evangelical Christian colleges, including some of the most prominent, there are different expectations as many leaders are succeeded by their children. In evangelicalism, in particular, some of the churches are likely to be treated as family businesses, with indigenous cultures that only a few can understand.

“There’s obviously a distrust of outsiders, so you want people who know the system, the ministry, what you are about,” said Matthew Sutton, who teaches history at WSU and is the author of American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism. “The assumption is that people within family know that best and can protect the heritage.”

More about the family business of college leadership in The New York Times (subscription required)

45 undergraduates named top researchers in SURCA competition

April 28, 2014

Thirty-nine awards were presented recently to 45 WSU students—many in the College of Arts and Sciences—at the third annual Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA) 2014.

The work of 192 students University-wide was detailed in 11 oral and 145 poster presentations open to faculty, staff, students, and guests. More than 100 judges evaluated the presentations. The judges included WSU emeriti faculty and retirees, faculty, staff, and post-doctoral students as well as experts from companies outside of WSU.

While many students from urban campuses traveled to participate, SURCA was made available to two place-bound students thanks to web conferencing provided by the Global Campus. A Pullman student studying abroad in Mexico and a WSU Vancouver student who was unable to attend SURCA in person talked “live” to their judges who were in the senior ballroom of the Compton Union Building.

More about the competition and list of winners

Ozette: 18th Century Mud Slide Catastrophe

March 28, 2014

Mudslide calamities like the recent one near Seattle are uncommon but not unique. About 1750, several Pacific coastal houses in Ozette, a Native American fishing village on the Olympic Peninsula, were buried by a sudden mudslide.

From ~400 AD through the early 1900s, Ozette was the base of whaling operations by people known as the Makah. It wasn’t until coastal erosion in the 1970s exposed the ruins that the village became visible again.

When the Makah people found the ruins of Ozette eroding out on their beaches, they asked archaeologists at WSU to help out. The project was one of the first joint Native American and academic projects ever conducted in American archaeology.

More about the Ozette Archaeological District