"Sacred Space Symposium" June 3 celebrates Oquirrh Mountain Temple - BYU News Skip to main content
Intellect

"Sacred Space Symposium" June 3 celebrates Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Brigham Young University will host the “Sacred Space Symposium,” sponsored by the Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding, Wednesday, June 3, beginning at 9:15 a.m. in the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center.

The symposium is free and open to the public.

“In recognition of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house, we decided to host an academic conference on sacred space,” said James Faulconer, the BYU Richard L. Evans Professor of Religious Understanding. “Sacred space is very important to Latter-day Saints, and it will be enlightening to compare how others think about sacred space differently than we do.”

President Cecil O. Samuelson will open the assembly. He will be followed by Terryl Givens, professor of literature and religion from the University of Richmond; Richard A. Cohen, director of the Institute of Jewish Thought and Heritage from the University of Buffalo; Jeanne H. Kilde, professor of religious studies from the University of Minnesota; and Hamid Mavani, assistant professor of Islamic studies at Claremont Graduate University.

The afternoon speakers will present in the Education in Zion exhibit, B-192 Joseph F. Smith Building, beginning at 2 p.m. Speakers will include Michael Fishbane, professor in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago; Steven Olsen, from the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and Laurie Maffly Kipp, associate professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The symposium will conclude with a panel discussion at 8 p.m., moderated by Richard Bushman, the Howard W. Hunter Visiting Professor in Mormon Studies from Claremont Graduate University.

For more information, contact James Faulconer at (801) 422-9781.

Writer: Angela Fischer

Oquirrh.jpg
Photo by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

Geology meets history: BYU professor studies WWII shrapnel on Normandy beaches

June 05, 2025
Eighty years after D-Day, BYU geologists uncover lingering WWII shrapnel on Normandy beaches to study how history still shapes the coastline today.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Forum: Lessons from Noise: Crackle to Calm

June 03, 2025
This year’s Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, Kent Gee, delivered his forum address on the science of sound and how he and BYU students have contributed to significant research in the acoustics industry.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

BYU study finds the real reasons why some people choose not to use artificial intelligence

June 03, 2025
In a recent study, BYU professors Jacob Steffen and Taylor Wells explored why some people are still reluctant to use GenAI tools. While some people might worry about an AI apocalypse, Steffen and Wells found that most non-users are more concerned with issues like trusting the results, missing the human touch or feeling unsure if GenAI is ethical to use.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=