Professor Colleen McDannell will deliver the sixth and final lecture in the 2012-2013 At-Large Lectures on Religion series. She is Professor of History and the Sterling M. McMurrin Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Utah. Her lecture, like all others in the Center for the Study of Religion-sponsored series, is free and open to all. There will be a brief question-and-answer session and a reception following the lecture.
Abstract: History--defined and lived in multiple ways--is ever-present in Latter-day Saint culture. This presentation analyzes the recently renovated Mormon Battalion Historic Site in San Diego, California, in order to tease out the various ways that religion intersects with the heritage industry. Scholars define the heritage industry as history processed through mythology, ideology, or local pride into a commodity. As one of many historic sites founded and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center is a multi-million dollar facility that employs state-of-the-art media and museum design to both educate and entertain. While LDS historical efforts are exceptional, they simply extend, modify, and focus the "secular" heritage industry. Religious historic sites, like the one is San Diego, become successful when they link heritage with the contemporary needs of a specific religious community.
