Chris Tirres
Buckley Visiting Chair in Latinx Theology
Christopher Tirres (B.A., Princeton University; Ph.D., Harvard University) is interested in the liberating potential of everyday spiritualities. He explores this topic through multiple disciplinary perspectives, including liberation theology, philosophical pragmatism, ritual studies, decolonial thought, women of color feminism, and critical pedagogy. Dr. Tirres is the author of The Aesthetics and Ethics of Faith: A Dialogue Between Liberationist and Pragmatic Thought (Oxford, 2014), Liberating Spiritualities in the Américas (Fordham University Press, forthcoming), and co-editor of Religion in the Americas: Transcultural and Trans-hemispheric Approaches (University of New Mexico Press, forthcoming). He has published over forty articles and book chapters and has received multiple teaching awards, as well as major fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Hispanic Theological Initiative, and the Louisville Institute. A native of El Paso, Texas, he recently delivered the distinguished John Dewey Memorial Lecture, which pays tribute to the healing power of borderlands spirituality.
“Spiritual Healing at the Border: Lessons in Art, Culture, and Education" (2022 John Dewey Memorial Lecture). Education & Culture, 38:2 (2022), 91-126
“A Liturgy that Heals: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Mexican-American Ritual,” in Deep Inculturation: Global Voices on Christian Faith and Indigenous Genius, ed. Antonio Sison (Orbis, 2024)
“Religion, Custom, and Habit: Re-imagining Dewey for the 21st Century,” in John Dewey's Human Nature and Conduct: A Centennial Handbook (2024)
“Popular Ritual as Liberating Pedagogy,” in Latino/a Theology and the Bible: Ethnic-Racial Reflections on Interpretation, ed. Fernando Segovia and Francisco Lozada (Lexington Books, 2021), 189-206
“Faith in Action and Community Engagement: Realizing Mission through Immersion Experiences,” co-authored with Melanie C. Schikore, in Community Engagement in Christian Higher Education: Enacting Institutional Mission for the Public Good (Routledge, 2021), 140-160
“Witnessing the Seeds of Liberation: Immigrant Detention and Pedagogical Encounter.” ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America, vol xx: 2 (2021)
“Spiritual Activism and Praxis: Gloria Anzaldúa’s Mature Spirituality.” The Pluralist, vol 14:1 (2019), 119-140
“Suffering and Hope in the Enchanting Garb of Poetry.” CrossCurrents, vol. 66:2 (2016), 162-172
“Conscientization from within lo Cotidiano: Expanding the Work of Ada María Isasi-Díaz.” Feminist Theology, vol. 22:3 (2014), 312-323
“Do coração e da mente: uma carta aberta a Ivone Gebara” (From the Heart and Mind: An Open Letter to Ivone Gebara) in Querida Ivone, Amorosas cartas de teologia & amizade, ed. Cláudio Carvalhaes e Nancy Cardoso. (CEBI & EST, 2014), 83-89
“Theological Aesthetics and the Many Pragmatisms of Alejandro García-Rivera.” Diálogo: An Interdisciplinary Studies Journal, vol. 16:2 (2013), 59-64
“Decolonizing Religion: Pragmatism and Latina/o Religious Experience,” in Decolonizing Epistemologies: Latina/o Theology and Philosophy, ed. Ada María Isasi-Díaz and Eduardo Mendieta (Fordham University Press, 2012), 226-246
“John Dewey: A Common Faith?” in Beyond the Pale: Reading Christian Theology from the Margins, ed. Miguel de la Torre and Stacy Floyd-Thomas (Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 134-141