Special Projects Archives – Page 3 of 6

Meet the LDS Influencers: Faith, Fashion and the Rise to Internet Fame

By Miacel Spotted Elk

April 5, 2019

Being an influencer is hard work. Achieving and sustaining the life of an influencer doesn’t only inspire a large aspiring pool, but also electrifies them to curate an image unique from anyone else’s while courting followers, especially sponsorships. One of these approaches is standing out to yo...

Petersen: The Conversion Therapy Debate Exposed Utah’s Troubled Relationship with LGBTQ People

By Josh Petersen

April 4, 2019

When HB399, a bill banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors, was proposed in the 2019 Utah State Legislative Session, there was reason to be hopeful. In its original form, the bill won support from several key groups involved in the fight for equality, including the Human Rights Campaign,...

Grief, Faith and Gay: Coping With Loss When Faith and Sexuality Collide

By Amy Loret

April 2, 2019

When faith and sexuality collide, stories involving personal feelings of grief and loss experienced by those in Utah and the University of Utah's LGBTQ+ community are common. "Grief, Faith, and Gay: Coping with Loss when Faith and Sexuality Collide" was hosted by the U's College of Social Work...

Phasing Out Latter-day Saints’ Pageant Traditions

By Miacel Spotted Elk

March 24, 2019

Last year, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced they will cancel more than half of their religious pageants across the country. The already affected pageants included Clarkston and Castle Valley. The two most famous, the Manti and Hill Cumorah, will end later this year and...

Brown: Persecuted Mormon Pioneers Would Be Critical of Their Modern Day Progeny

By Jacob Brown

March 24, 2019

Much of what the early Mormon settlers endured during the early 19th century can be serialized as a relentless campaign of brutal displacement orchestrated by various pro-slavery state governments and politically frenzied mobs on the account of religion. While it is easy to morally critique...

Why Religious Studies Isn’t Offered in Korean Universities

By Mitch Shin

March 21, 2019

The Utah Asia Campus is ready to accept all of the Salt Lake City campus' systems one by one. Less than five years after its opening, however, it is clear that UAC is not ready to open a department of religious studies or hold a lecture about religion. Todd Kent, the chief administrator,...

The Caffeine Cryptid

By Marshall Falkner

March 18, 2019

Coffee. The lifeblood of most college students. Whether you are an actor going to a late-night rehearsal, a med student beginning your residency or a mathematics major finishing a final proof before giving into the sweet release of sleep, coffee is important. But for those of you who do not know, follow...

Should Professors Curse in the Classroom?

By Alaikia Marielle

March 12, 2019

Whether or not you felt included in the conversation, we as a society have decided certain words are unacceptable to say — the types of words requiring asterisks in print and bleeps on television. Many years ago, as a bright and beaming middle schooler, I said “crap” in passing in ...

U Professor Sterling Van Wagenen Resigns After Allegedly Admitting to 1993 Molestation of a Minor

By Elise Vandersteen Bailey and Christina Giardinelli

March 7, 2019

Film professor Sterling Van Wagenen has resigned following the release of a recording during which he is heard admitting to molesting a minor in 1993, according to spokesperson for the University of Utah's College of Fine Arts, Marina Gomberg. The recording is the result of an interview...

Spirituality in the U Dance Department

By Alison Myers

March 4, 2019

“I am not a naturally gifted dancer,” Alyssa Bertelsen, a graduate from the University of Utah ballet program, said. “I don’t have the physique, and my teachers growing up were very sweet. They were like, ‘Alyssa, we love that you love ballet, but like, you’re never going to be...