Christopher Smith was brought up as an evangelical Protestant of the rock-n-rolling, tongues-speaking, hands-raising variety. He investigated Mormonism for a time in high school, prying himself out of bed before sunrise for several months to attend early morning seminary. Though he never joined the Church, he continued engaging Mormons on the Internet throughout his BA program in Biblical Studies at Fresno Pacific University. By the time he graduated, this casual interfaith engagement had developed into a bona fide academic interest. He began attending Mormon history conferences, writing articles on Mormon history topics, and getting caught up in a community of Mormon scholars who he liked and respected and whose fellowship he craved. Around the time he finished an MA program in Christian History at Wheaton College, Chris learned that Claremont Graduate University had started a Mormon Studies program with Richard Bushman as the Howard Hunter chair. Surrendering to the inevitability of fate, he enrolled.

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Chris is currently a PhD candidate in Religions in North America at CGU, writing a dissertation on Mormon and American Indian encounters during the lifetime of Joseph Smith. He has also written, presented, and published on a variety of other Mormon topics, including early Mormon mysticism, post-Manifesto polygamy, and Utah politics during the Progressive Era. His other interests include the histories of Pentecostalism, Anabaptism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, as well as broader themes such as religion’s intersections with geography, international affairs, healing, and violence. Chris particularly enjoys experimenting with quantitative and computer-assisted research methods, which bring a badly-needed scientific sensibility to the usually airy study of the humanities. His articles have appeared in venues such as Dialogue, Sunstone, and the Claremont Journal of Mormon Studies. Chris’s CV can be viewed here.

Chris is currently living in Provo, Utah to be near the LDS archives while he works on his dissertation. He also edits part time for Kofford Books.

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