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As Richard Bushman mentions in this podcast episode, one of the very first things Joseph Smith did in announcing himself to the world was to take on the title of "translator." What an audacious thing, especially as Mormonism associates translation with the gift of seership, even proclaiming\\xa0that "a\\xa0seer is greater than a prophet" (Mosiah 8:15). Since declaring himself a translator, and yet it being apparent that he knew no ancient languages, exactly what Smith\\xa0meant by "translation" has been an ongoing debate both within and without the faith. Though never a particularly settled question, it has in recent years become a topic of renewed fascination within Mormon scholarly circles, and with the release in the past 18 months of images and more information of the seerstone Smith used in translating the Book of Mormon, it has caught on as a fresh area of inquiry among\\xa0non-specialists as well. In addition\\xa0new angles of inquiry are emerging that examine the notion of translation far beyond the confines of Book of Mormon production.

Recognizing this renewed interest and the fascination of the approaches being taken, the Utah State University religious studies program, in partnership with the Faith Matters Foundation, are convening a conference on 16 March 2017 at Utah State exploring these emerging perspectives with great energy. This episode of Mormon Matters hosts three of the conference\'s participants, Richard Bushman, Samuel Brown, and Philip Barlow,\\xa0to tease some of\\xa0the new perspectives finding some footing\\xa0and why discussions like this are important and fascinating both to scholars and lay church members. The episode, of course, mentions the conference a lot, but even for someone not able to even consider attending, there are wonderful insights aplenty as host Dan Wotherspoon\\xa0turned these three great thinkers loose to talk about things\\xa0for which they have great passion.\\xa0

We think you\'ll love listening in, and after you do, we hope you\'ll add your thoughts in the comments section!