Throughout the history of the symposium, presenters have included notable General Authorities of the Church, historians, scholars, educators, and authors. This symposium was established to explore annually a topic of special interest in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Historians and scholars meet to share the fruits of their research with each other and a general audience of interested Latter-day Saints and friends. Selected papers from previous symposia have been printed in books copublished by the Religious Studies Center and Deseret Book.

2026 BYU Church History Symposium

Memorials and Commemoration:

How the Saints Remember and Celebrate History

Dates:

• October 22-23, 2026

The Department of Church History and Doctrine at BYU and the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announce the Church History Symposium to be held on October 22–23. The symposium will convene at Brigham Young University (October 22) and at the Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City (October 23). We invite students and scholars of diverse backgrounds and career stages to submit proposals specifically addressing the theme of “Memorials and Commemoration: How the Saints Remember and Celebrate History.” We welcome proposals from a variety of disciplines and methodological approaches on culturally and geographically diverse topics. Proposals should consist of a brief abstract (no more than 200 words) and a current CV. Proposals may be sent to church_history_symposium@byu.edu by December 1, 2025.