Author, Historian, Educator, Learning Designer
Dr. Konden R. Smith Hansen is an award-winning historian and learning designer specializing in the intersections of American religious history, national identity, and digital pedagogy. He is a Sr. Lecturer at the University of Arizona and holds a PhD and MA in Religious Studies and an M.Ed. in learning Design and Technologies from Arizona State University.
Scholarly Research & Publications
Dr. Smith Hansen’s research explores how “religion” and “the secular” are redefined during periods of national crisis, particularly concerning how these definitions affect the lives of religious minorities. He is the author of two award-winning works:
- Frontier Religion: Mormons and America, 1857–1907 (Univ. of Utah Press, 2019): Winner of the Mormon History Association’s “Best First Book.” It examines the “frontier” as a national myth that functioned as a religion, transforming both Mormon and Protestant identities and responses.
- The Reed Smoot Hearings: The Investigation of a Mormon Senator and the Transformation of an American Religion (Univ. of Colorado/Utah State Univ. Press, 2021): Co-edited with Michael Harold Paulos and awarded “Best Anthology” by the John Whitmer Historical Association. This volume analyzes the landmark Senate hearings as a pivotal moment in American secularization and the expansion of religious inclusion.
His peer-reviewed scholarship has appeared in The Journal of Mormon History, Religion and the American West, Christianity in North American, Mormons and Popular Culture, and the SAGE Handbook for Instructional Designers
Teaching & Learning Design
A specialist in online and hybrid education, Dr. Smith Hansen helped establish the Religious Studies minor for Arizona Online at the University of Arizona. All of his courses are Quality Matters certified, reflecting his expertise in asynchronous engagement.
- Pedagogical Innovation: As a research fellow for UCATT, he developed the Understanding Religion Series, a collection of immersive learning videos featuring community leaders from diverse traditions.
- Course Proficiencies: Religion in the American West, World Religions, Religious Violence and Terrorism, Religion and Film, and Mormonism in American History and Culture.
Current Projects & Public Engagement
Dr. Smith Hansen is currently expanding his research on American cultural myths and personal narratives through two distinct projects:
- The 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair: Serving as a conceptual sequel to Frontier Religion, this project examines the fair as a site of religious and cultural tension. This research focuses on the intersection of religion at the fair and that of the dominant corporate models then defining by way of exhibition the meaning of “progress” and “affluence.”
- Mormon Ladybug: A Graphic Memoir of a Missionary in San Francisco: Dr. Smith Hansen is also pivoting into the graphic medium with a memoir exploring the friction between individual identity and institutional belonging. The work blends the meditative satire of Daniel Clowes’s Wilson with the raw, evocative self-reflection found in Tara Westover’s Educated.
A frequent public commentator, his insights have been featured on NPR, C-SPAN BookTV, The Conversation, New Books Network, and at the Parliament of World Religions. He previously served as co-chair of the Religion in America section for the American Academy of Religion (Western Region).