Reimagining Latinidad

Maria Pilar Aquino, STD, is professor emerita in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of San Diego. Aquinos primary areas of teaching and research were liberation theologies, social ethics, and feminist theologies with special interests in intercultural approaches, conflict transformation, and religious peacebuilding studies. Even in retirement, she continues to serve on national and international editorial boards of prominent theological journals. Aquino is a co-founder of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States and served as its first woman president. She is internationally renowned for her pioneering work in Latin American and US Latina feminist theologies of liberation. Gregory Cuellar is professor of Hebrew Bible and Ruth A. Campbell Chair of Biblical Studies at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Prior to his current teaching position, Cuellar was Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts and the Colonial Mexican Imprint Collection at Cushing Memorial Library and Archives at Texas A&M University. His teaching experience reflects a strong commitment to ecumenical engagement, having taught courses at Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, Hispanic Scholars Program, and Seminario Metodista Juan Wesley in Monterrey, Mexico.

Chapter 1: Afro-Latinidad and Theological Education

By Alexandra Rosado Roman and Yolanda Santiago-Correa

Latinidad is an ethnic identity with racial diversity within its moniker. Yet, Latinidad often obfuscates Blackness within the community, allowing anti-Blackness to thrive. This chapter explores how the racial diversity of Latinx populations impacts theological education, especially as institutions consider the nuances of programming for communities of color.

Chapter 2: Interreligious and Intercultural Engagement

By Cristian De La Rosa

Latinxs have never been solely Christian. Even among those who are Christian, their religious expressions have often called forth indigenous, African, and other religious practices. This chapter explores how theological education reckons with the religious diversity of Latinxs. It also considers implications for how the community and institutions understand the mission of theological education and interreligious engagement.

Chapter 3: Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and the Nones

By Alicia Reyes Barrientes and Arlene Sanchez Walsh

The rise of Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism in the Latinx community has led to profound demographic shifts within Latinx Christian expression. Yet, there has also been a rise in Latinxs who do not identify with any religious tradition. This chapter explores how theological education conceives of its mission in light of such changes. It also explores how the realities of social justice and equality intersect for Latinx who do not necessarily work from a Christian ethical framework.

Chapter 4: Sexuality, Gender, and Queerness

By Elsie Miranda and Melissa Pagan

The Latinx community is often imagined as a conservative community when it comes to issues of sexuality and gender roles. But the reality is that our community has always been at the vanguard of queering sexuality and gender. Yet these realities have not found their way into the discourse of theological education, amidst our Latinx students clearly representing this diversity of expression. This chapter explores how lived realities of our Latinx community regarding sexuality, gender, and queerness push theological education to rethink our community and how we lead.

Chapter 5: Interdisciplinary and Transnational Methods to Scholarship

By Claudio Carvalhaes and Jackie Hidalgo

Although interdisciplinary scholarship has entered the academic mainstream in recent years, Latinx scholars in theological education have always been blurring the lines of academic discipline in order to better theorize and historicize the transnational experiences of our community. This chapter explores how we boldly claim the interconnections of interdisciplinary and transnational methods to scholarship as a necessary intervention for understanding the Latinx community in theological education.