Jana Riess
Jana Riess | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jana Kathryn Riess December 13, 1969 United States |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | PhD |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Period | 1990s-present |
| Genre | Religion |
| Spouse | Phil Smith[1] |
| Children | Jerusha (born c. 1999)[2] |
Jana Kathryn Riess (born December 13, 1969)[3][4] is an American writer and editor. Riess's writings have focused on American religions, especially The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which she is a member, and other new religious movements.
Background
Riess was born in the US Midwest, one of two children.[5] Her father[6] abandoned her mother Phyllis[7] and Jana without warning in 1984[8] (by that time the brother was on his own).
Riess has a Bachelor's degree from Wellesley College. She received a Master's degree in theology from the Princeton Theological Seminary and a PhD in American Religious studies from Columbia University. Riess is a Religion and American Studies professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She and husband Phil Smith reside in Cincinnati.[9] A convert to the LDS Church, Riess has spoken at Brigham Young University Women's Conference and other gatherings of the LDS Church, as well as professional conferences.
Writings
Among the books by Riess are What Would Buffy Do? and an abridgment of the Book of Mormon with commentary. Riess is a member of the LDS Church, having converted as an adult.[10] Riess is an expert on religion in literature. In 2001 she moderated a debate over whether the Harry Potter books were a tract for witchcraft.[11] Her "The Next Mormons" survey project looks at how different generations of Mormons have interacted with the Church.[12] In her 2019 The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church, which received critical praise,[13][14] Riess and her colleague Benjamin Knoll published a landmark analysis which questioned the accuracy of reports that LDS membership was growing.[13][14] From 1999 to 2008 she was the religion book editor for Publishers Weekly.[9][15]
Tweeting the Bible
On October 4, 2009, Riess began a project to tweet the bible. Her "Twible" quest concluded in January 2013. Each tweet summarizes a chapter of the bible. Riess tweets the bible in order and plans to hit all 1,189 chapters in 140 characters.[16] She later published it in book form as The Twible: All the Chapters of the Bible in 140 Characters or Less . . . Now with 68% More Humor![17]
Works
- Books
- Riess, Jana (2002), The Spiritual Traveler: Boston and New England: A Guide to Sacred Sites and Peaceful Places, Mahwah, NJ: HiddenSpring, ISBN 978-1-58768-008-3
- —— (2004), What Would Buffy Do?: The Vampire Slayer as Spiritual Guide, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, ISBN 978-0-7879-6922-6
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ——; Bigelow, Christopher Kimball (2005), Mormonism for Dummies, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0-7645-7195-4
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (2005), The Book of Mormon: Selections Annotated and Explained, Woodstock, VT: SkyLight Paths, ISBN 1-59473-076-8
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Ogilbee, Mark; Riess, Jana (2006), American Pilgrimage: Eleven Sacred Journeys and Spiritual Destinations, Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, ISBN 978-1-55725-447-4
- __ (2011), Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor, Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, ISBN 978-1-55725-660-7
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- Articles
- Riess, Jana (June 1999), "Stripling Warriors Choose the Right: The Cultural Engagements of Contemporary Mormon Kitsch" (PDF), Sunstone Magazine (114): 36–47
- —— (Spring 2000), "'Heathen in Our Fair Land': Presbyterian Women Missionaries in Utah, 1870–90", Journal of Mormon History, 26 (1): 165–195, archived from the original on August 8, 2011, retrieved December 3, 2018
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (August 21, 2000), "New Genres, Emerging Audiences", Publishers Weekly, 247 (34): S4
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (2001), "Mormon Fast and Testimony Meetings", in Colleen McDannell (ed.), Religions of the United States in Practice, vol. 2, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 67–71, ISBN 0-691-01001-3
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (2001), "The Latter-day Saint Word of Wisdom", Religions of the United States in Practice, vol. 2, pp. 297–301, ISBN 0-691-01001-3
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (2002), "Introduction", Mary Baker Eddy, Speaking for Herself: Autobiographical Reflections, Boston: The Writings of Mary Baker Eddy, pp. xv–xlv, ISBN 0-87952-275-5
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (March 2003), "Strengthening the Part-Member Marriage?: We're Just Fine, Thank You" (PDF), Sunstone (126): 66–67
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (July 2003), "Seek Ye Out of the Best Flicks: R-Rated Movies That Have Helped Me Think About the Gospel" (PDF), Sunstone Magazine (128): 42–44
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (March 2005), "'More Fully Unspotted from the World': Thoughts on Sabbath Keeping" (PDF), Sunstone (135): 23–25
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (March 2005), "Sacred Envy: What I've Learned from Other Religions" (PDF), Sunstone (136): 52–54
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (September 2005), "For the Love of Reading" (PDF), Sunstone (138): 56–58
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (September 2006), "How to Give a Sacrament Meeting Talk: An Open Letter to Converts" (PDF), Sunstone (142): 55–57
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (June 2007), "Why the Heck Don't Mormons Swear?: Musings on the Sacred and the Profane" (PDF), Sunstone (146): 57–59
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (October 2, 2007), "We're Christians Too", Christian Century, 124 (20): 9–10, archived from the original on October 11, 2008
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (December 2007), "Tributaries of Faith" (PDF), Sunstone (148): 20–26
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - —— (2009), "Book of Mormon Stories that Steph Meyer Tells to Me: LDS Themes in the Twilight Saga and the Host", BYU Studies, 48 (3): 141–47
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- Other
- Riess, Jana (1991), "The Saints Go Marching In: Mormonism in American Politics, 1970–1990", [Honors thesis], Wellesley, MA: Department of Religion, Wellesley College
{{citation}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - —— (2000), "Heathen in Our Fair Land: Anti-Polygamy and Protestant Women's Missions to Utah, 1869–1910", [PhD Thesis], New York: Columbia University
{{citation}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Bigelow, Christopher Kimball (2007), Jana Riess (ed.), The Timechart History of Mormonism from Premortality to the Present, Bassingbourne, Hertfordshire, UK: Worth Press, ISBN 978-1-903025-40-6
Footnotes
- ^ Flunking Sainthood, pp. 5, 153
- ^ Flunking Sainthood, pp. 19, 56
- ^ "The Book of Mormon: selections annotated and explained". Copyright Catalog (1978 to present). United States Copyright Office. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
- ^ Flunking Sainthood, p. 158
- ^ She has an older brother, John (ref. Flunking Sainthood, pp. 58, 168)
- ^ Her father died at age 71 in Mobile, Alabama, in October 2010 (Flunking Sainthood, pp. 166–169)
- ^ Annotated Book of Mormon, p. xix
- ^ Flunking Sainthood, pp. 166–169
- ^ a b Riess, Jana (September 2006). "How to Give a Sacrament Meeting Talk: An Open Letter to Converts" (PDF). Sunstone Magazine (142): 55–57. Retrieved June 21, 2010..
- ^ "My dad was an angry atheist . . My mom was considerably more charitable but no more interested in organized religion." (Flunking Sainthood, p. 1)
- ^ Deseret News, 9 December 2001
- ^ Nielsen, Alyssa (June 1, 2017). "Religion scholar studies why millennials leave LDS Church". The Daily Universe.
- ^ a b "The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church – BYU Studies".
- ^ a b "Secularization Hits the Mormons | Psychology Today".
- ^ "Common Good Faith - The Rise of the Progressive Mormons with Jana Riess". Common Good.
- ^ "Tweeting the Bible", Patheos
- ^ "Jana Riess". Faith and Leadership.
External links
- Articles with short description
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- CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list
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- 1969 births
- American Latter Day Saint writers
- American religion academics
- Columbia University alumni
- Converts to Mormonism
- Living people
- Mormon studies scholars
- Mormon memoirists
- Writers from Cincinnati
- Princeton Theological Seminary alumni
- Wellesley College alumni
- 20th-century American writers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- 20th-century American women writers
- 21st-century American women writers
- Latter Day Saints from Ohio