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Biography:
Phil Stover is a historian of religion and conflict, focusing on Mennonite, Mormon, and Mexican studies.
An independent scholar, Phil’s forty year career included service as a senior administrator in higher education, K-12 public and private education, and a Fortune 500 company providing services to education. He retired from serving San Diego Unified School District as Interim Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Superintendent of Business Services and Sweetwater Union High School District as Interim Superintendent of Schools. He also served as an Associate Professor of Psychology, teaching courses in the integration of psychology and theology. Phil has served his denomination as a licensed and ordained minister and as headmaster of a Mennonite K-12 school. Phil was appointed a member of the Sarasota County Historical Commission. Retired, Phil now lives in Mata Ortiz Chihuahua where he researches, writes, and oversees the production of peach, apple, and pecan trees. He has served his Mata Ortiz community by serving as President of the local Rural Committee for Potable Water. His Buyer’s Guide for Mata Ortiz Pottery is consistently in Amazon’s top 100 best sellers in books about ceramics.
Current research areas:
The Study of Religion as Conflict
Religion and Revolution in Mexico
Mennonites and Mormons in Mexico
The Role of the School District in Student Achievement
Recent scholarly activity:
Phil has written a 480 page history of the interaction of revolution and religion in the history of Mexico. Entitled, Religion and Revolution in Mexico’s North: Even Unto Death . . . Tengamos Fe, his book was awarded a prize in non-fiction by Writers Digest and has been adopted as a textbook at Arizona State University. Phil has published three other books and is finalizing one on the organizational behavior of American public school districts, and one entitled For Thy Kingdom, a historical and doctrinal case study based on the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Phil recently spoke at a symposium at Arizona State University’s Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict. He presented on “The Roman Catholic Church during the Mexican Revolution.” This June Phil will be presenting at the Mormon History Association’s Annual Conference in St. Louis, MO. His presentation is entitled “The 1912 Exodus from Mexico: A Huddle of Pros and Cons – Mormons Twice Dispossessed.” Phil has spoken to various civic and religious groups in Nuevo Casas Grandes regarding the religious history of our area. He has served as a guest lecturer on school finance and law at San Diego State University, Point Loma Nazarene University, and Bridgewater State University.
Phil has submitted a chapter that is currently under review for an edited book entitled Gazing on Southern Gods: North Atlantic Views of Latin American Religion and Spirituality. Phil’s contribution is a chapter entitled, “The Hand of Good-Fellowship”: How Senior US Politician’s Religious Perspectives Influenced their Mexican Policies from 1873 – 1938.”
Phil’s undergraduate degree is in history and Biblical studies. He holds masters degrees in psychology and education. He has additional advanced graduate study in theology, religion, education, and organizational behavior and development.
Recent publications:
Stover, Phil. “The Eye of God: Tranquility and Tradition . . . Mata Ortiz Pottery in Harmony with the Ancients.” Journal of the Southwest. Vol 54. No 1. 2012 Tucson: University of Arizona, 159-165. DOI: 10.1353/jsw.2012.0008.
Stover, Philip R. Religion and Revolution in Mexico’s North: Even Unto Death . . . Tengamos Fe. Deming NM: Rio Vista Press. 2014.
Other activities:
Engaged in speaking at various civic and religious groups in Chihuahua on the revolutionary and religious history of the area.
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