Faculty and students from Brigham Young University’s School of Family Life continue to produce public scholarship aimed at informing both local and national audiences on marriage and family life. Where appropriate, they also engage constructively on matters of core importance to Brigham Young University and its institutional sponsor.

Over the past year, these contributions have reached influential audiences that total in the hundreds of thousands. From the New York Times to the Institute for Family Studies, faculty are participating in influential national conversations; and, in venues such as Church magazines or the Deseret News, faculty are helping BYU’s core constituents navigate contemporary complexities with informed, research-based perspectives aligned with the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

This year has also seen the flourishing of student participation in public scholarship. Aided by the dedicated work of faculty members, especially Julie Haupt, Stephen Duncan, Jeffrey Dew and Chelom Leavitt, among many others, the School of Family Life is working to refine student writing into publishable articles that meaningfully contribute to the public discourse. Many students are now regularly drafting pieces with faculty and publishing in notable venues.

This year, faculty published 100 public scholarship articles with 44 instances of additional media attention. About 16% of these contributions had a direct focus on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In some instances the pieces helped correct or respond to misinformation. Articles by faculty and students working together totaled 22 pieces; approximately 10% were focused on a Church audience. Students published more than 90 pieces in the last year, and about 16% of those were oriented toward a Church audience.