The Journal of Unitarian Universalist Studies

Dr. Yvonne C. Garrett, Editor
Dr. Yvonne C. Garrett, Editor

The Unitarian Universalist Studies Network – founded in 2021 via a merger of the UU History and Heritage Society and UU Collegium – is committed to encouraging valuable original research done to investigate our UU and liberal religious past and to integrate findings gained from serious exploration of ethics and theology. Our work is informed by our commitment to countering oppression in all of its intersecting forms in the belief that such study will critically challenge our sense of who we have been as a religious movement, and deepen our aspiration to be a just, inclusive, and beloved community as Unitarian Universalists today.

The Journal of UU Studies, our new journal title, will carry forward the tradition of excellence established by the Journal of Unitarian Universalist History (formerly the Proceedings of the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society).  Published once a year, the current issue will be sent to each of our members in late spring.  Membership in UUSN is $50 per year ($125 for three years); $30 per year for students and anyone on reduced income. Besides giving you access to the Journal, your membership will keep you informed via our newsletters (three per year) and support our work with the Dictionary of UU Biography and the Conrad Wright Lecture presented each year at General Assembly. 

Submission Process

  • The journal invites manuscripts from academic and independent scholars, religious professionals, lay leaders, and students.
  • Manuscripts should be prepared in Microsoft Word, in a length of approximately 20-35 pages in double-spaced, size 12 typeface, with endnote citations using Chicago Manual of Style. 
  • Send manuscripts to  the editor, Dr. Yvonne C. Garrett, via email at uusnjournal@gmail.com. 
  • Submissions will be reviewed by the editor and members of the editorial board, with potential edits worked out between individual authors and the journal editor in a collaborative and confidential process. 
  • Book reviews are also encouraged, focusing on works relevant to UU or liberal religious history, ethics, and theology.
  • Editorial Board: John Buehrens, Dean Grodzins, Cynthia Grant Tucker, David Hall, Mark Harris, Dan McKanan, Mark Morrison-Reed, Lewis Perry, Susan Ritchie, David Robinson.

Current Journal

Volume 47: 2024, In Memoriam, Peter Hughes, 1952-2024


Articles

Andrea Johnson, “The Audacity to Imagine Sisyphus Happy: African American Naturalistic Humanism and the Quest to Dismantle White Supremacy in Unitarian Universalism”
 
Colin Bossen, “Robert Wedderburn, the First Black Unitarian Minister”
 
Dan McKanan, “Harvard Divinity School and Slavery: Family Stories”
 
John Newhall, “Lynn, Lynn, City of Sin: Labor and the Development of Universalism in Lynn, Massachusetts”
 
John Buehrens and Pamela K. Peirce, “‘A Ministry with a Civic Circumference:’ Resisting Threats to Democracy: Frank Wicks in Indianapolis, 1905-1952”
 

Research Note

Kazimierz Bem – Tsar False-Dimitri I – Follow-up Evidence of his Socianism
 
Transcript of a Webinar presented by the Reckoning International Unitarian/Universalist Histories Project: “Uncovering the Hidden Power of Women in Unitarian and Universalist Histories”

Introduction: Lehel Molnar

Moderator: Rosemary Bray McNatt

Presenters:

  •  Alisha Rani: The Story of Pharienborn Rani in the Khasi Hills, India
  •  Qiyamah Rahman: Profiling Black Women Ministers in Unitarian Universalism

Respondents:

  • Olga Flores Bedregal (Bolivia), Ann Peart (UK), Maria Pap (Transylvania)

Response and Conclusion: Rosemary Bray McNatt

Final Remarks: Mark Harris

 

Book Reviews

Arthur Anderson, The Transcendentalists and the Death and Rebirth of Western Philosophical Religion, Part 1: Ancient Philosophy as a Religious Way of Life, reviewed by Barry Andrews
 
Sarah Bakewell, Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry, and Hope, reviewed by William Schulz
 
Paul T. Burlin, Charles F. Dole: Liberal Theology and Reform: A Life Well-Lived, reviewed by John Buehrens
 
Gary Dorrien, The Spirit of American Liberal Theology, reviewed by Dan McKanan
 
Peter Hughes and Peter Zerner, Introduction to On the Trinity and the Bible: An Annotated Translation of the Restoration of Christianity, books 1 and 2, by Michael Servetus, reviewed by Bruno Oliviera Maroneze
 
Maciej Ptaszynski and Kazimierz Bern, eds. Searching for compromise:: Interreligious Dialogue, Agreements, and Toleration in 16th-18th Century Eastern Europe (Brill Series: Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions, Volume 235), reviewed by Jay Atkinson
 
Danya Ruttenberg, On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World, reviewed by Barbara coeyman
 
Ilyon Woo, Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom, reviewed by Mark Harrs

Contents of Past Journals

Full Text of Journals