In this class, we will focus on the conditions of possibility, development, and problems surrounding the formation of the Latinx identity. We will pay special attention to how such an identity is expressed through and informed by religious experience, and to how religious experience is theoretically articulated in Latinx theology and religious thought.

To pursue this task, we will devote the first part of the class to the examination of the conditions of possibility of latinidad by focusing on the formation of the Latinx self. What makes Latines, Latines? Is this a forcefully assigned identity or one that can be claimed and embraced with pride? Is there such a thing as a unified Latinx self or shall we favor approaches that stress hybridity or multiplicity? In the second part of the class, we will shift from self-formation to community-formation by examining the experience of mestizaje (racial mixing) and its theoretical articulation in Latinx theology. Is this concept useful to describe the Latinx experience or does it romanticize the violence of European colonialism? Lastly, we will return to the formation of Latinx identity considering the ambiguities of religious ethnic identity through the examples of tensions between Catholic and Evangelical Latinos, and those emerging from the experiences of Latinos converting to non-Christian religions. 

The class is divided in two sections. The first—“History and context”—is devoted to a historical-critical analysis of Jesus of Nazareth and the movement that emerged after his death. Here we will emphasize the cultural context, and philosophical and theological novelty of what we now know as the Christian tradition.

The second section—“Contemporary Issues”—deals with new social, cultural, and political developments that challenge the Christian faith: modernity, poverty and injustice, migration, politics, race, gender, and sexual anthropology.

This course offers a comprehensive approach to a fundamental question of moral responsibility: Can we be faithful to our religious values and to the moral commitments essential to the survival of democratic societies? In order to address this issue, we will first examine the importance of critical thinking about religion in the university setting, showing the decisive role religious values play in our world. Since there is no such a thing as “religion” or “moral responsibility” in a vacuum, we will then turn to the discipline of Christian Ethics. We will study its origins and main concerns, as a concrete case of ethical inquiry within the boundaries of a religious tradition. All these issues belong to the field of meta-ethics., that is, the field that studies the necessary conditions for moral reasoning and action.

We will then move to the examination of different contemporary authors and texts that apply their moral reasoning to specific issues in which the apparent tension between religious and democratic values arise: democracy itself, poverty and injustice, migration, race, gender, and sexual anthropology. Questions like the following will take center stage: Shall we pray for the poor or advocate for systemic economic change? Does religion oppress women or liberate them? Are Christians supposed to reject same-sex relations or can they support them? To this section of applied ethics we will devote most of our time.

This course is a core course that explores the major sources, methods, and insights of Christian social and theological ethics. We will do so, first, examining the meaning of studying religion in the university setting. The goal here is to familiarize students with the importance of critical thinking about religion, especially given the decisive role of religious values in the United States. Since there is no such a thing as “religion” or “ethics” in a vacuum, we will then turn to the discipline of Christian Ethics examining its origins and main concerns, as a concrete case of ethical inquiry within the boundaries of a religious tradition. All these issues belong to the field of meta-ethics., that is, the field that studies the necessary conditions for ethical reflection.

We will then move to the consideration of different contemporary authors and texts that apply their ethical reflection to specific problems drawing from the resources of the Christian tradition. To this section of applied ethics we will devote most of our time. Particular attention will be given to the questions of modernity, poverty and injustice, migration, politics, race, gender, and sexual anthropology.