Dr. Alwi Shihab, Presidential Advisor and Special Envoy to the Middle East, gave a forum address at BYU in October 2006. This special guest speaker was introduced by President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In "Building Bridges of Understanding: The Church and the World of Islam" and "Building Bridges of Harmony through Understanding," President Packer and Dr. Shihab emphasize that radical interpretations of religion threaten Christians, Muslims, and those of other faiths. Some critics of the Smith family have suggested that their behavior at the deaths of Alvin and Joseph Sr. are indicative of mental instability. In Dr. Samuel Brown's insightful and thoroughly researched article "The 'Beautiful Death' in the Smith Family," he shows their bereavement fits comfortably within the "beautiful death" culture of antebellum America. Karl G. Maeser's influence upon Brigham Young University cannot be underestimated, but what, we might ask, created within this gifted teacher an insatiable curiosity about Mormonism at a time when missionaries were not allowed into his country? The surprising answer, suggests A. LeGrand Richards in "Moritz Busch's Die Mormonen and the Conversion of Karl G. Maeser," is an anti-Mormon book by a prestigious German journalist and editor. In the early 1920s, an economic depression hit Utah. The Church was faced with a decision: maintain the colleges and academies the Church already operated or pull out of academic instruction to make way for religious education and the growing seminary program. In "Charting the Future of Brigham Young University: Franklin S. Harris and the Changing Landscape of the Church's Educational Network, 1921–1926," Gordon Daines examines the ways in which BYU President Harris paved the way for Brigham Young University to remain the Church's institution of higher learning, while other LDS colleges and academies around the state were closed or sold. In "Strangers in a Strange Land: Accessing the Experience of Latter-day Saint Expatriates Families," James Toronto discusses the pros and cons of living the LDS expatriate life. With stories from his personal interviews, Toronto discusses the effect expatriate life has on family relationships, personal testimonies, and respecting cultural diversity.