La Comunidad of Hispanic Scholars of Religion

(1) Presente: Futuring Latina Scholarship, Teaching, and Leadership

Call for Papers: La Comunidad invites submissions that engage current scholarship to envision the future of Latina academic contributions. This session centers the legacy of Latina theologies—received as a living tradition that reinterprets the present and imagines the future of faith; recontextualizes theological inheritances to confront race, colonialism, and the everyday realities of marginalized communities; and subverts hegemonic memories by amplifying silenced stories for collective empowerment. We ask: How have Latina experiences been reflected in the academy? How do we orient toward the future amid critical reconfigurations in religious studies? In short, we invite scholars to “future” Latina theologies by engaging theological inheritance in ways that are at once authentically traditional, subversive, and transformative for the future. 

Please send proposals to session convener Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi at klizardy@iliff.edu.

(2) Book panel on Luis R. Rivera Rodríguez’s forthcoming book, Doing Theology Latinamente: The Protestant Latinx Academic Movement: 1965-1979 (Fortress Press, 2026)

La Comunidad seeks to gather a diverse panel of respondents representing different generations and confessional perspectives to assess the book, and more importantly, to facilitate a critical conversation on the need for future historical work on Latinx theologies and the place of Latinx theologies within theological education. Panelists will receive a preview copy of the book from Fortress Press. 

Potential panelists should contact session convener Rubén Rosario Rodríguez at ruben.rosariorodriguez@slu.edu.

(3) Co-sponsored Panel: “Volver al Futuro: 30 Years of HTI and the Changing Face of Latine Studies”

Call for Papers: La Comunidad and the Latina/o Religion, Society, and Culture unit of the American Academy of Religion are co-sponsoring a papers session. 

Description: When the Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI) was established in 1996, Latine scholars were often categorized as a statistical outlier in theological education, comprising less than 3% of PhD students and faculty. Today, while those numbers have more than doubled, the true story of HTI lies beyond the data. It is found in the "ripple effect" of a generation of scholars who have fundamentally reshaped the epistemologies, pedagogies, and the educational ecologies of the academy and the communities of practice they serve.

To mark HTI’s 30th anniversary, this session moves beyond institutional history to provide a critical academic evaluation of its impact on the Study of Religion and its vital contributions to the interdisciplinary field of Latine Studies. We seek to theorize the "HTI effect"—the ways in which the intentional cultivation of Latine scholarship has disrupted traditional theological canons and forced a reimagining of religious studies. We invite proposals that reflect on how this increased presence has shifted the intellectual landscape, identify the pedagogical gaps that remain, and analyze how the evolution of HTI reflects broader shifts in Latine religious identity, institutional power, and the "changing face" of the US religious landscape.

Submissions may address (but are not limited to):

• How has the professionalization and networking of Latine scholars changed the "grammar" of religious and theological discourse?
• The impact of Latine faculty on curriculum design, mentoring models, and the "decolonizing" of the classroom.
• Institutional Power and Resistance: A critical look at the "doubling" of numbers, is it representative of genuine power-sharing or a managed inclusion within the neoliberal academy?
• Identifying new scholarly frontiers that the next generation of HTI scholars are currently navigating.
• Beyond the Academy: How HTI-trained scholars have influenced public theology, grassroots movements, and community-based religious practices.

Please send proposals to session conveners Elaine Nogueira-Godsey (enogueiragodsey@drew.edu) and Hector Varela Rios (hvarelar@villanova.edu).