UVA to establish Richard L. Bushman chair on Mormon studies

[_Fence Sitter]

They have 3 million already donated.


More here http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/uva_mormon_chair/

Can someone fill me in on how a 'Chair' works? Is this like a department or?

[_brade]

Not too far away from me. I might go over there and check things out.

[_lulu]

An endowed chair means that the donated money is set aside and the interest is used to pay the professor's salary. There will be restrictions on the field or the department the occupant can be in. For example, UVA can't hire a biology professor for the Bushman chair. He's going to have to teach about Mormonism.

The bigger the endowment, the greater the interest, the larger the salary, the swankier scholar you can attract.

So it means that some rich people think highly enough of Bushman to have his name on the chair rather than the names' of the people giving the money. And hey, (quite possibly) their less than respected religion will appear to be more important.

Who proposes the chair, the department, the university or the donors can vary. If someone on the inside, you propose a name that will attract big donations, quite possibly the name of the donor. Or if the donor, she can insist on her own name or suggest someone she admires. Sometimes there are negotiations between the institution and the donors over such issues.

Bottom line, its a way to get donations for your school.

Can the donors influence who gets named to the chair? One hopes not but there was some discussion about why Quinn didn't get the Hunter chair at Clairmont.

Departments, especially departments that might concievably be axed, like endowed chairs. If say, the religion department has 2 endowed chairs, the college administrator would have to be a real idiot to try and save money by doing away with it because it is a small department. If the department goes, the chair goes, and the endowment money goes back to the donors or their heirs.

So if you have some money you want to donate to a school, but not enough to have a building named after you, you can endow a chair, for less money, you could have a scholarship fund named after you. Or, I have seen the corner of a building where the vending machines were named after a donor. I thought that was pretty sad.

But that my friends is how knowledge is manufactured.

[_Fence Sitter]

Thanks Lulu.

What does it mean in terms of the curriculum on Mormonism to be offered at UVA?

[Guest]

Thanks Lulu.

What does it mean in terms of the curriculum on Mormonism to be offered at UVA?

As I read the link, they will definitely have to start offering something, otherwise the guy will have nothing to do.

ETA here's a link to the UVA press release. I hope they will consider people outside of Mormon membership. I think someone like CK, Stak or Ms.Jack could really kick ass.

http://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-cr ... on-studies

[_MrStakhanovite]

Thanks Lulu.

What does it mean in terms of the curriculum on Mormonism to be offered at UVA?

It's a chair in the religious studies department, which probably means a 2/2 course load, probably an intro level class on Mormon history and a special topics seminar.

[_lulu]

Thanks Lulu.

What does it mean in terms of the curriculum on Mormonism to be offered at UVA?

It's a chair in the religious studies department, which probably means a 2/2 course load, probably an intro level class on Mormon history and a special topics seminar.

I didn't get a vibe on grad school. Is Clairmont the only place that's going that route? I think USU is more oriented towards undergrads, they only offer an MA in history. I'm not sure UVU has any graduate work in the field.

It would be nice if someone would start a program without an endowed chair so they would not be dependant on Mormon money.

[_sethpayne]

Congratulations to Richard Bushman. What an honor for him. I can't think of a more deserving person. Not only is Richard a great scholar, he is a wonderful and kind human being.

I have a little "inside information" on this and I can tell you that UVU has big plans for Mormon Studies. If all goes well, this program will blossom in the coming years. From what I understand there was/is incredible demand for this type of program at UVU and I'm excited to see it take off.

Seth

[_kairos]

Alert Alert Alert !


Dr. Michael Quinn - Please update your resume!!!


just sayin

k

[_Fence Sitter]

Alert Alert Alert !


Dr. Michael Quinn - Please update your resume!!!


just sayin

k

If the donations were from staunch LDS and UVA hopes to get more $$$$$ from them then Quinn probably would not be an option, though I would love to see him get it. While he is popular in LDS historical circles, I don't think he has the prestige in the ivory tower to be considered.