Spring 2025 Perspectives Faculty Updates
Gaurika Mehta
Gaurika Mehta presented her research on Creole Sanskrit at the American Historical Association’s Annual Meeting in New York. Drawing on archival and ethnographic examples of how Sanskrit takes on creolized forms in the Indo-Caribbean diaspora, Gaurika compared two sociological-linguistic theories: Sanskritization and Creolization. Creole Sanskrit and its Indo-Caribbean texts and contexts raise many interesting questions: Can we (and should we) creolize classical languages? What would creolizing Sanskrit mean for the study of language, religion, and politics in South Asia and the diaspora?
Nicholas Hayes-Mota
Nicholas Hayes-Mota was featured prominently in a Religion News Service article on the COPS/METRO organization in San Antonio, where he was a featured speaker. Nicholas had an article published in Philosophy and Social Criticism, entitled: "Enemies of the Right Kind: Saul Alinsky and Chantal Mouffe on the Theory and Practice of Agonism." He was the featured podcast guest (a return appearance!) on U.S. Catholic's Glad You Asked podcast. The topic this time was a fairly provocative one: "Are Billionaires Going to Hell?"
Elyse Raby
Elyse Raby spoke about "Gender Questions for a Synodal Church" as an online public lecture for Fairfield University (her alma mater) and Commonweal Magazine as part of their three-part series on Catholicism and Gender. She also moderated an online conversation with Sr. Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, discussing “theological implications of synodality.” In April, she was also a facilitator at an event hosted by The Jesuit School of Theology at the Santa Clara campus that brought together Catholics from regional parishes; theology faculty and students; and other interested Catholics to learn and engage with the process of synodality as it is infused within the workings of parishes, schools, and communities. The Vatican’s Secretary General of the General Secretariat of the Synod, Cardinal Mario Grech, was the featured keynote speaker. See also the cover story for her role in coverage about the death of Pope Francis and the conclave to replace him.
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Eugene Schlesinger
Gene Schlesinger was in Rome for the Theologies of Catholicity seminar sponsored by Australian Catholic University and KU Leuven. This was the third of a four-year funded research project. This year's theme was "Theologies of Catholicity: Soteriology and Eschatology," and drew participants from nine or so countries. Gene was a respondent in a paper panel on "Ressourcement soteriologies and eschatologies."
Fred Parrella (Professor Emeritus)
Fred Parrella published a review article of Hatfield, Elaine, Richard L. Rapson, & Jeanette Purvis, What’s Next in Love and Sex: Psychological and Cultural Perspectives, New York: Oxford University Press, 2023, in INTAMS, the Journal of Marriage, Families, and Spirituality 30, 2 (2024): 333334.
Ana María Pineda, RSM
Ana María Pineda, RSM was honored on May 10 by Misericordia University, Dallas, Pennsylvania for her lifelong service and scholarship with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Ana María was recognized as a distinguished theologian, educator, and pioneer in Hispanic ministry in the United States. The citation noted: Born in El Salvador and raised in San Francisco’s Mission District, for decades she has worked tirelessly to uplift Hispanic/Latino/a voices in the Catholic Church and to shape pastoral practices rooted in culture, justice, and faith. Her early ministry centered on teaching, parish service, and mentoring Latino/a youth and families. She served as co-director of the Diocese of San Jose’s Office of Hispanic Ministry, laying the groundwork for national conversations on Hispanic Catholic identity. Her leadership roles include teaching at Santa Clara and directing the Hispanic Ministry Program at Catholic Theological Union. One of the founding generation and past president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS), she also helped establish the Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI), which supports Latino/a scholars in doctoral theological studies. She was a key contributor to the national Encuentros, including the V Encuentro, where she served as a keynote speaker. As an advisor to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, she has shaped national discourse on cultural inclusion and justice in the Church.
David DeCosse
David DeCosse had an op-ed on the relevance of Bonhoeffer and conscience for us in this moment in The Mercury News on April 11th: America’s conscience mean more than slavish obedience to a leader.
Vince Olea
Vince Olea has produced and hosted a KSCU radio show called 90s Grunge Music and Suicide, during Spring quarter, on Thursday nights from 6-8 pm. Vince shared that he is both excited and nervous as he has never done a radio show before. Part of the focus is mental health, with several guests from CAPS and the Wellness Center joining throughout the quarter. His hope has been to encourage students to give voice to their inner life and reach out to loved ones and SCU practitioners when needed.
Chris Tirres
This spring, Chris Tirres published two books, Liberating Spiritualities: Reimagining Faith in the Américas (Fordham University Press) and Religion in the Américas: Trans-hemispheric and Transcultural Approaches (University of New Mexico Press). He has participated in several book talks across the nation and is featured in Dr. Kwok Pui Lan's podcast Kwok 'n' Roll. In addition, he helped to bring several noted speakers to SCU in recent months, including Dr. Antonio Jose Lucero and Native American human rights activist Mike Wilson (authors of What Side Are You On?: A Tohono O'odham Life Across Borders), and Dr. Davíd Carrasco, who gave the Inaugural Denise Carmody Lecture.
Elizabeth Drescher
Elizabeth Drescher was interviewed for an article entitled "They stopped going to church as adults. A need for community is bringing them back." The article discusses religiously unaffiliated people who have begun returning to religious communities in search of community and other social benefits, often despite a lack of belief.
On May 5, students from Drescher’s Urban Religion class (RSOC 21) shared their research about mural art and in the religious, cultural, and social landscape at "Seeing Spirits of Silicon Valley in Place." The event was sponsored by the Local Religions Collaborative and the Center for Arts and Humanities.
On May 17, Drescher participated in a panel discussion at Loma Linda University on the impact of no religion and religious disaffiliation in health care. She shared insights on rising generations of nonreligious Americans, who increasingly come from unaffiliated family backgrounds.
Daniel Morgan
Daniel Morgan’s article, "Toward the Formation of a Waliullahi Public in Eighteenth-Century India: The Trials and Tribulations of Nurullah Budhanwi" was published in the latest issue of Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The article reconstructs the life of Nur Allah Budhanwi, an eighteenth-century legal scholar and Sufi, to suggest the limitations of current models of Islamic reform in South Asia.
Pearl Barros
Pearl Barros was a moderator at the first Denise Carmody lecture, named after our late colleague and former provost. This lecture, in honor of Carmody’s creativity in teaching and scholarship, considered the intellectual passions of two great American writers, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Toni Morrison, whose brilliance and creativity transformed the literary landscapes of their era. The May 8 lecture was sponsored by the Ignatian Center and the RS department was one of the co-sponsors. The lecture featured renowned historian of religion, Davíd Carrasco, of Harvard University. Barros was also a respondent at the May 15 Bannan Forum, which focused on JST professor Julie Hanlon Rubio’s new book, Can You Be a Catholic and a Feminist?
Karl Lampley
Karl Lampley published a book entitled A Black Theology of the American Empire (NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024). This book offers a critical analysis of the theology that underlies and sustains the American Empire, particularly as it informs U.S. foreign policy and global involvement in today’s world order.
Paul Schutz
Paul Schutz's new book, A Theology of Flourishing: The Fullness of Life for All Creation, has been released with Orbis Books. Centering theological discourse on what it means to truly thrive, A Theology of Flourishing reframes Christian thought around the concept of abundant life for all of creation. Drawing from scripture, tradition, and contemporary theology, Schutz argues that flourishing is God’s fundamental intention for the universe.