Curriculum Review Committee
XOCHITL ALVIZO
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, California State University
Dr. Xochitl Alvizo teaches in the area of Women and Religion and the Philosophy of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality at California State University, Northridge. Her interests include feminist and queer theologies, congregational studies, ecclesiology, and the emerging church. She brings an intercultural feminist approach to theology and the study of religion. Her work is inspired by the conviction that all people are inextricably connected and what we do, down to the smallest thing, matters. Xochitl makes her church home with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She is co-founder of Feminism and Religion (feminismandreligion.com) and The Pub Church, Boston. Her co-edited volume, Women Religion Revolution, is available through FSR Books.
MARGARITA BENÍTEZ
Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Endowment for the Humanities
Dr. Margarita Benítez’s lifelong involvement with higher education began at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), where she was born and raised. At UPR, she was a professor of Spanish Literature and Humanities, as well as Chancellor of UPR’s Cayey Campus, and Acting Chancellor of UPR’s Humacao Campus. After moving to Washington, DC in 1997, she held a number of senior positions in higher education organizations, such as the Office of Postsecondary Education in the U.S. Dept. of Education, the Institute for Higher Education Policy, Excelencia in Education, The Education Trust, and the American Council on Education. In 2013, Dr. Benítez was one of four educators in the United States selected by Lumina Foundation for Education as a Lumina Fellow, in recognition of her work for access and success for underrepresented students. In September 2018, Benítez returned to Puerto Rico to serve as executive director of the Puerto Rico Endowment for the Humanities.
ELIZABETH CONDE-FRAZIER
Coordinator of Relations with Entities of Theological Education, AETH
Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Conde-Frazier is coordinator of relationships for theological entities at Asociación para la Educación Teológica Hispana (AETH). Prior to this role, she served as dean and vice president of education at Esperanza College of Eastern University in Philadelphia, PA. Rev. Dr. Conde-Frazier was previously tenured associate professor of religious education at Claremont School of Theology and taught Hispanic Latinx theology at the Latin American Bible Institute. Rev. Dr. Conde-Frazier also served as founding director of the Orlando E. Costas Hispanic and Latin-American Ministries Program at Andover Newton Theological School. While she was director, Rev. Dr. Conde-Frazier developed programs for the continuing education of ministers and lay leaders including youth. Rev. Dr. Conde-Frazier has authored Listen to the Children: Conversations with Immigrant Families and Hispanic Bible Institutes and co-authored A Many Colored Kingdom and Latina Evangélica.
TERESA DELGADO
Dean of St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at St. John’s University, NY
Dr. Teresa Delgado is Director of the Peace and Justice Studies Program and Associate Professor and Chairperson of the Religious Studies Department at Iona College in New Rochelle, NY, where she joined the faculty in 2005. She received her doctorate from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She has published extensively on issues ranging from diversity in higher education, transformational pedagogies, constructive theology and ethics, and justice for racial/ ethnic/sexual minorities. At Iona College, Dr. Delgado teaches courses at the intersection of theology and ethics, such as Biomedical Ethics and the Christian Tradition, Christian Sexual Ethics, Contemporary Peacemakers, and Peace and Social Justice. Dr. Delgado’s book, Prophesy Freedom: A Puerto Rican Decolonial Theology, will be published with Palgrave MacMillan Publishing Company in late 2017. She lives in Mount Vernon, NY with her spouse of 28 years and their four children.
ULRIKE GUTHRIE
Owner of Ulrike Guthrie Editing Services
Ulrike (Uli) Guthrie has been editing academic books, dissertations, articles, and papers in religion for 33 years, first for publishing houses like Cambridge University Press and Abingdon Press, and now for individual authors worldwide. She has been working with the HTI since its inception in 1997. Her goal is to help you to make your writing sing and to communicate your ideas clearly to a particular audience. If you stay with HTI, she will also likely accompany you all the way through your dissertation writing. Should you notice dirt under her fingernails, it’s because when not editing, she’s working in her woods, streams, and gardens in Maine, kayaking on nearby lakes, or painting.
PATRICK REYES
Seminary Dean, Auburn Theological Seminary
Dr. Patrick B. Reyes is the author of The Purpose Gap: Empowering Communities of Color to Find Meaning and Thrive, and of the award-winning book Nobody Cries When We Die: God, Community, and Surviving to Adulthood. A Chicano educator, administrator, and institutional strategist, he is the Senior Director of Learning Design at the Forum for Theological Exploration. This includes oversight over all grants and fellowships, as well as grant writing and reporting on behalf of the organization. He is president-elect of the Religious Education Association and serves on several boards in education and the non-profit sector supporting the next generation of BIPOC leaders and educators. Patrick holds a Doctorate and Master of Arts from Claremont School of Theology, a Master of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology, and is proud to be a graduate of the California State education system, California State University at Sacramento (Sac State). You can learn more about Patrick at patrickbreyes.com.
Leopoldo A. Sánchez
Director of the Center for Hispanic Studies Werner R. H. and Elizabeth R. Krause Professor of Hispanic Ministries Full Professor of Systematic Theology Concordia Seminary
Dr. Leopoldo A. Sánchez M. is the Werner R.H. Krause and Elizabeth Ringger Krause Professor of Hispanic Ministries, professor of Systematic Theology and director of the Center for Hispanic Studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. He has been a faculty member since 2004. He received his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from Concordia Seminary (2003) and his Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind. (1999). He holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in theology from Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon (1995).Sánchez served as the main drafter for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) Commission on Theology and Church Relations report Immigrants among Us: A Lutheran Framework for Addressing Immigration Issues (2012). He served as president of the LCMS’ Fifth National Hispanic Convention (2012–15), the Hispanic Convention’s vice president in the previous triennium (2009–12), and chairman of Lutherans in Medical Missions (2012–16), an LCMS Recognized Service Organization. He also has served organizations such as the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, Lutheran Hour Ministries, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service as a theological consultant for various projects.
CHRISTOPHER TIRRES
Vincent de Paul Professor of Religious Studies and Inaugural Endowed Professor of Diplomacy and Interreligious Engagement at DePaul University
Christopher Tirres is the Vincent de Paul Professor of Religious Studies and the Inaugural Endowed Professor of Diplomacy and Interreligious Engagement at DePaul University. He is the author of The Aesthetics and Ethics of Faith: A Dialogue Between Liberationist and Pragmatic Thought (Oxford University Press, 2014) as well as two forthcoming volumes: a monograph entitled Liberating Spiritualities in the Americas (Fordham University Press) and a co-edited volume entitled Religion in the Americas: Transcultural and Trans-hemispheric Approaches (University of New Mexico Press). He has published and presented widely in the areas of religious studies, philosophy, theology, feminism and education. Dr. Tirres is an award-winning teacher and the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, including major awards from the Ford Foundation, the Louisville Institute, the Hispanic Theological Initiative, and the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning. As the director of DePaul’s Center for Religion, Culture, and Community (CRCC), he has helped other faculty deepen their own community-engaged pedagogies, and his own work includes collaborations with the Chicago-based Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants (ICDI); the Mariposa Foundation, a program based in the Dominican Republic that seeks to end generational poverty by educating and empowering girls; and Solidarity Bridge, an organization that partners with communities in Bolivia and Paraguay to increase access to safe, affordable surgery and other essential health care. He was born and raised in El Paso, Texas and is a graduate of Princeton University (A.B.), Harvard Divinity School (M.T.S) and Harvard University (Ph.D.).
Raúl Zegarra
Lecturer Loyola University Chicago
Raúl Zegarra is a Peruvian scholar of religion with degrees in philosophy and theology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and the University of Notre Dame, respectively. Dr. Zegarra received his Ph.D. in Theology from The University of Chicago. His passion for obtaining his Ph.D. came from the realization that academic work, with its careful study of the history of ideas and social movements, can become a tool to empower the poor and marginalized in an effort to make our societies more just. He is especially interested in the impact his scholarship can have in his country, Peru, but also among the Latinx community in the USA.