The Givens talk at Yale continues to generate interesting discussion by contributors at The Metaphysical Elders. The topic is how to help Mormon Studies move from being the equivalent of a rather sophisticated fireside (enlightening and insightful but of interest only to Mormons because speaking only to Mormons) to being an inquiry that ties bona fide research questions to themes of broader interest. The cleverly phrased prescription in this post by The Antiquarian is to make Mormonism an independent variable (helping to explain other historical events or movements) rather than always a dependent variable and the primary focus of interest. That's good, if causal links go both directions. But it has to be a two-way street to avoid the apologetic label. Arguing that Mormon events influence the rest of society but are themselves uniquely immune to external influence (i.e., our ideas all come from revelation) is to argue religious exceptionalism again.
Seems like the New Mormon History has been down this path already. See this chapter of Mormon History, by Walker, Whittaker, and Allen (U. of Illinois Press, 2001). Sample: Instead of defending or attacking LDS faith claims—one of the major characteristics of nineteenth-century Mormon historiography—the new historians were more interested in examining the Mormon past in the hope of understanding it—and understanding themselves. Their tools were the same as those of other professionally trained historians: secular or naturalistic historical analysis. . . . They accordingly asked new questions and explored new topics, many of which had nothing to do with the "truth" of the religion. Their hope was to broaden the base for understanding Mormonism's history.
But there were challenges to this seemingly positive development. Some general authorities disapproved of the kind of history being produced at church headquarters. In 1976, Ezra Taft Benson, president of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, warned of the tendency to humanize church leaders. Such an approach minimized God's ruling hand and undermined "our prophetic history," Benson thought. Moreover, Benson objected to the neutral language employed by some of the historians. Such scholarly expressions as "experimental systems" and "communal life" seemed too foreign to Mormon traditional history and possibly a breach of it. More ...
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