Charting the Field: An Editorial Benediction

In 2019, we were thrilled to assume the editorship of the Mormon Studies Review. This is the sixth volume to appear during our tenure. It is also our last. We took on this role knowing its stakes and responsibility: the Review had already become the premier review journal for the interdisciplinary field known as Mormon studies. We hope we have preserved and extended that reputation, making the journal the preeminent bridge between the Mormon studies community and the many academic disciplines it touches. Each volume has featured an interdisciplinary forum, disciplinary essays, and both long and shorter reviews that aim to cover all scholarly books that touch on Mormonism, with the primary goals of both charting the field as well as translating its lessons to a wider academic world.We titled the introductory essay that inaugurated our editorship “Multiplicity” to reflect our commitment to a diversity of approaches, voices, and topics.1 This is especially the case concerning scholarly disciplines. Though history has long dominated the academic study of Mormonism, recent years have witnessed increased attention to literary criticism, biblical studies, folklore, theology, political science, art theory, anthropology, and many other interdisciplinary methods and tools that shed new light on the faith, its communities, and its many meanings. We have tried to cast our nets broadly to engage books from a variety of backgrounds and directed to different audiences. (This volume, for instance, reviews a new work of poetry.) Our forums and disciplinary essays have covered topics that speak to different academic communities. Mormon studies, as a field, works best when it is embedded within larger scholarly discussions that engage a range of academic disciplines.Another emphasis on pluralism can be found in our commitment to investigating different forms of Mormonism. Though the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in Salt Lake City and claiming over seventeen million members worldwide, is the most prominent denomination within the Mormon tradition, there are many other varieties of religion that trace their ecclesiastical and theological lineages back to Joseph Smith. We have featured these diverse branches in each forum, enabling readers to capture a wider swath of the Mormon experience. This volume's forum on “Mormonism as Spectacle,” for example, has one essay that focuses on the Community of Christ, another that looks at ex-Mormons, and a third that briefly mentions a new variety of Mormonism now growing in Brazil. Indeed, Mormonism's global context continues to be the most enticing, if still elusive, framework through which to see the tradition, and we have prioritized authors and books that demonstrate how the religion has moved beyond its American origins.Finally, we have placed a premium on providing a platform for diverse authorial voices. The field of Mormon history has long been dominated by White, straight, American men who belong to the LDS Church. We have attempted, therefore, to have each volume feature more gender, racial, sexual, national, and religious diversity than has traditionally been standard in our field. While there is still room to improve, and there were times where we fell short of our standard, we believe that, overall, this commitment to diversity has strengthened the journal and pushed the field to consider new perspectives.One innovation we introduced during our tenure was a new section, Reviews of Resources and Primary Sources. With the recent surge in television and cinematic depictions of Mormonism, as well as the continued plethora of digitized and published primary sources, we felt a need to provide academic analysis of works that do not fit our traditional Book Review category. This has enabled us to feature scholars analyzing true crime series, bestselling fiction, journalistic narratives, interactive websites, and annotated documentary histories, among other genres. These brief reviews are especially directed at classroom use, helping teachers and students examine a wide variety of sources. If the Review aims to be the one-stop shop for academic perspectives on all things Mormon, this extension is not only possible, but necessary.All this success would not have been possible without the help of many who provided essential assistance. We are particularly grateful for the large and diverse cast of scholars who have served on our editorial advisory board and helped us chart out every issue, identified potential reviewers, and offered feedback on thorny topics. And of course, those who agreed to write for us supplied the brilliance that filled our pages. The Mormon studies community has proven that there is no shortage of people willing to lend a hand.We leave the Review knowing that the journal is in able hands. Cristina Gagliano and Joseph Stuart are bright scholars and warm colleagues; their wisdom and collegiality make them exceptional candidates for this crucial role in the field. To help prepare them for the task, they have served as associate editors for volume 12 and will take sole editorship of volume 13. We wish them nothing but the best.Now only a dozen years old, the Mormon Studies Review is already recognized as the academic hub for Mormon studies, the place where scholars both within and outside the field can assess recent works, developments, themes, and trends. We are honored to have played a role in that mission and we hope it will continue long into the future.