Biography
Maclane Heward grew up in Orem, Utah. He has been a full-time religious educator since 2009 and has primarily worked in the Seminary and Institute program, most recently as an Assistant Director at the Utah Valley Institute of Religion. He graduated from Brigham Young University with an undergraduate degree in Public Relations and a Master’s degree in Religious Education. He studied under Patrick Mason at Claremont Graduate University and received his PhD in the History of Christianity and Religions of North America in 2019. As an undergraduate student, Maclane was mentored by a biology professor, Dr. Hal Black, and participated in a research project where he helped trap over 100 black bears in the Book Cliffs of central-eastern Utah. This experience, as well as many other mentored experiences helped him to fall in love with research.
Maclane met his future wife on the piano bench at Timpanogos High School. Maria went on to major in Piano Performance at BYU and they were married in 2006. They are the parents of 5 children. They enjoy cheering their children in diverse activities from soccer to cross country, gymnastics, and dance. They love hiking and exploring as a family and have fallen in love with the hobby of birding. They currently reside in Cedar Hills Utah where they watch Coopers Hawks and Great Horned Owls raise their chicks.
Research Interests
I am researching Joseph Smith's concept of Zion and how he came to see it very differently than his contemporaries and how we see it in comparison to what he understood it to be.I am just beginning an oral history project to gather accounts of immigrants and how their immigration across man-made boarders has influenced their relationship with the divine.
I am currently working on a project to gather stories of tension with leaders and how faith was maintained through this type of difficulty.
My research methods are primarily historical and qualitative.