Journal of Undergraduate Research

Eric Tonini and Casey Griffiths, Church History & Doctrine The Republic of Kiribati is a nation consisting of thirty-three coral atolls. While twenty-one of the atolls are inhabited, a majority of the population lives on the main island known as South Tarawa. This major population on South Tarawa have moved from outer islands in the […]

Kiersten Robertson and Mary Jane Woodger, Church History and Doctrine Introduction A building designated specifically for the use of the women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was first proposed in 1893, shortly after the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple. In response, the First Presidency offered a lot just east of […]

Ian McLaughlin and Dr. Rachel Cope, Church History & Doctrine Introduction My project was designed to answer one question and ended up answering several others. The original question was: Why has so little been written on Latter-day Saint responses to evolution prior to 1909? Darwin’s Origin of Species was published way back in 1859, a […]

Amanda Buessecker and Faculty Mentor: Jeff Chadwick, Church History and Doctrine Introduction The globalized Late Bronze Age world was one of sophisticated trade, conquest, and foreign influence in many of the Old World’s nations. Archaeological excavations in modern Israel have revealed numerous artifacts of Egyptian origin and style within Canaan’s Late Bronze Age. The Late […]

Nathan Astel and Faculty Mentor: Michael Mackay, Church History and Doctrine My research was initially aimed at researching the locations and implementation of the temple endowment in Nauvoo. As I began my research concerning the temple endowment, I realized that I was more interested in the theological implications of the endowment and how the endowment […]

Mason Price and Gerrit Dirkmaat, Church History and Doctrine Introduction With increasing access to archived American newspaper sources online, it is simpler than ever before to peer into the past through the lens of primary source news articles. Newspapers, though they have limitations in presenting historical information, can nonetheless be useful to uncover and better […]

Juan Valladares and Dr. Gerrit van Dyk, Religion and Family History Department Project Purpose The goal of this project is twofold: first, we outlined the life and ministry of Elijah Able, an early Mormon Pioneer and the first well documented African American man to be ordained to the Priesthood. Second, we historically analyzed “the priesthood […]

Louisa Greear and Michael MacKay, Religious Education Introduction As a research assistant for Dr. Michael MacKay and Dr. Gregory Wilkinson, I transcribed journals from missionaries in the Frist Japan Mission. As I transcribed these journals, a particular person really jumped out at me: Edna Harker Thomas. Sister Thomas was not only the wife of the […]

Jeremy Ingersoll and Gerrit van Dyk, Religion In the early ‘90s, ninety-four Hispanic members of the LDS church were interviewed by the BYU Redd Center for Western Studies and provided oral histories. All interviewees were from a Spanish-speaking country or were the children of parents who came to the United States from a Spanish-speaking country, […]

Rabia Cheema and Gregory Wilkinson, Religion Department Introduction After moving to the United States and especially in a culture like BYU, I wanted to share my experiences as an immigrant. Through this paper, I wanted to open up about the struggles that I believe that almost every immigrant in the United States goes through. To […]