Individual Listing

3025 CHASS INT NORTH
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521

Hughes, Jennifer

Assistant Professor

College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Religious Studies


Biography

Jennifer Hughes' research and teaching focuses on Latin American and Latino religions, religion and art (including especially religious images), the role of religion in colonialism and decolonization, Christianity in the Southern Hemisphere, and comparative liberation theologies. Professor Hughes' first book, Biography of a Mexican Crucifix: Lived Religion and Local Faith from the Conquest to the Present (forthcoming, Oxford University Press), is a history of popular devotion to artistic images of the suffering Christ in Mexico. She is currently the co-chair of the Religion in Latin America and Caribbean Group of the American Academy of Religion. In addition to her academic scholarship, Professor Hughes has worked as an advocate for homeless Latinos with HIV/AIDS, as a translator and advocate for Angolan refugees in South Africa, and with the liberation theology base community movement in Brazil.

Former Institution

 Mt. Holyoke College, Dept. of Religion

Degrees

B.A. Latin American Studies 1992

UC Santa Cruz

M. Div. Religious Studies 1996

Harvard University, Divinity School

Ph.D. Religious Studies 2005

Graduate Theological Union

Awards

Newhall Award for Teaching and Research, Graduate Theological Union, 2001-02, 2004
Outstanding Dissertation Proposal, Graduate Theological Union, 2003
Doctoral Fellow, Episcopal Church Foundation, 2001-2003
Presidential Fellow, Graduate Theological Union, 1999-2001
Joseph Coleman Richard's Scholar for Excellence in Field Education, Harvard Divinity School
Highest Honors, UC Santa Cruz, Latin American Studies


Research Area

Historical and cultural study of religion in Latin America including conquest, mission, conversion, syncretism and indigenous Christianity, popular practice and devotion. Religion and art, especially the religious image. Religious thought and practice in colonial and post-colonial contexts. The history of liberation theology and comparative liberation theologies. Christianity in the southern hemisphere.

Publications

Biography of a Mexican Crucifix: Lived Religion and Local Faith from the Conquest to the Present, Oxford University Press, forthcoming.

"The Catholic Church and Social Revolutionaries." In Religion and Society in Latin America: Interpretive Essays from the Conquest to the Present , ed. Lee Penyak and Walter Petry. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books (forthcoming).

“Review: Dangerous Speech: A Social History of Blasphemy in Colonial Mexico”. Hispanic American Historical Review, 88:4, Nov 2008.

“Spanish Explorations, Conquests, and Missions,” “Portuguese Explorations and Missions,”and “Padroado/Patronato”. In Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity, Daniel Patte, ed, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.

Editor, Journal for South-South Dialogue and Exchange,(Theology Exchange Program, Cape Town, South Africa) 9/93-6/94.

Professional Papers

“¡Romero Presente! Popular Devotion to San Oscar Romero,” Saints and Social Worlds Panel, History of Christianity Section. American Academic of Religion, San Diego, November 2007.

“The Gentle Devotions of a Rebellious People: Local Religion and Popular Practice in Morelos, Mexico,” Religion, Religiosity and Spirituality Track. Latin American Studies Association Congress. Montreal, September 2007.

Session Chair, The Irruption of the Mystical in the Modern, Religion, Religiosity and Spirituality Track. Latin American Studies Association Congress. Montreal, September 2007.

"The Case of María Tiburcia: Mexican Itinerant Preacher and Curandera," American Academy of Religion, Religion in Latin America and the Caribbean Group and Ritual Studies group. Philadelphia, PA, November 2005.

"Biography of a Mexican Crucifix," Five Colleges Religion Seminar, Amherst, Massachusetts, October 2005.

"Religion and Transnationalism in Latin America," Tepoztlan Institute for Transnational History. Tepoztlan, Morelos, July 2005.

"Spiritual Practice versus Art in a Mexican Cult," American Academy of Religion, Christian Spirituality Group: Spiritual Practice in Latino/a Art and Devotion. San Antonio, Texas, November 2004.

“The Iconography of Suffering: Indigenous Perspectives on Christian Self-inflicted Violence and the Brutality of the Crucifix in Colonial Mexico,” American Academy of Religion Meetings, Religion in Latin America and the Caribbean Group. Atlanta, November, 2003.