Connections Magazine 2025

Books by our faculty

“It’s nearly impossible not to feel the Spirit of the Lord as you sit with someone in their deepest pains, sorrows, and confusion [and] try to offer help, comfort, and hope,” says Elizabeth Nga Byers (MSW ’24).

Imagine a world where the latest academic research is not just confined to scholarly journals but is readily available in an engaging, understandable format. Thanks to professors turned podcasters, that world is already here. Lifelong learning can be as convenient as tuning in while commuting, exercising, or even tackling a honey-do list.

Dear alumni and friends,

Humane sciences obviously suggests a focus on humans—how we think, love, create, connect, worship, gather, contest, unite, divide, struggle, suffer, exult, rejoice, and overcome. At their best, the humane sciences constitute the careful, penetrating, exuberant study of God’s children across the full gamut of their mortal experience. Such study, I contend, remains indispensable, no matter how fast technology advances or how diffusely it permeates our society.

Highlights from College Lectures

Stanley Jay Knapp: Transformative Teaching

For Erika Olson (BS ’25), one of the benefits of being a sociology student was learning how to understand and connect with others.

“Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come” (Doctrine and Covenants 87:8).

“Mentored research is just one of many ways—but an important way—that our students are able to engage in inspiring learning,” said Dean Laura Padilla-Walker at the April 2025 Mary Lou Fulton Mentored Student Research Conference. “We feel that the opportunities students have to engage with faculty research are a real strength of the programs that we offer.”

Steve Willis (BS ’95) isn’t mistaking early retirement for a slower pace of life. Instead, he’s answering BYU’s call to “go forth to serve.”

It feels like we have been going through a In the face of change, a question I feel period of change in recent years—both as a society and with the changes and challenges you might be experiencing in your personal life. If you feel tired, it seems you may be justified!

What Every Couple Can Learn About Love and Respect from Interfaith Marriages