Biography
Academic author – multiple Fulbright recipient – documentarian – novelist - scholar activist. Since obtaining his doctoral degree in 1999, De La Torre has authored over one hundred articles, published eight University Press level books, thirty-six trade books, a two-volume encyclopedia on Latine Religious Culture, a magical realism auto-fictional novel, and a multi-award-winning documentary on immigration. Six of his publications received national awards. His academic pursuit focuses on perspectives from disenfranchised communities, seeking to learn from voices relegated to the underside of society, thus situating his perspectives “from the margins.” In 2020, he was the recipient of the AAR Excellence in Teaching Award, and the following year received the Martin E. Marty Public Understanding of Religion Award – becoming the first scholar to receive both prestigious awards. He formally served on the AAR Program Committee, co-chaired the Ethics Section, served on the editorial board of JAAR, and was a past director of the AAR Board. De La Torre served as the 2012 President of the Society of Christian Ethics and the 2023-24 President of the Society of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion. Currently, he authors a bi-monthly op-ed on the latest global and cultural issues, and their intersection with religious thought.
Candidate Statement
Being nominated for the AAR position of Vice-President is a profound honor, especially during our present challenging times. Contemplating this opportunity, I find three areas of concern in which my energies and experience can be useful: stewardship and accessibility, academic freedom, and support among differences. With an eye toward the future, our guild must continue to assess our current financial situation and membership position as we move forward from the economic repercussions of the pandemic and past low conference attendance. Creative thinking and the exploration of possible new income streams are needed, specifically in ways which do not further burden our doctoral students and/or contingent faculty. My background as an entrepreneur prior to doctoral studies, and my Masters degree in Administration will prove helpful in seeking to think “outside the box.”
Decades of working with doctoral students - cognizant of the struggles many of them face - sensitized me to their situation. The desire to participate is often frustrated by the realities of economics, specifically how expensive it is to attend our national conference. If we claim our guild represents all its members, then we must constantly ask: Who’s being marginalized due to economics, gender and/or identity? Whose voices are absent when envisioning the future of the AAR? More important, how do we as an academic society strive to ensure those voices from the margins are heard and become foundational as we build the AAR of the future? Second, it is my belief that leadership at learned societies such as ours have a responsibility to promote and advocate for academic freedom. Today, we are witnessing how professors and students across campuses are experiencing chilling and disturbing forms of censorship, where those calling for justice feel afraid to voice their thoughts due to the possible threat of violence. Some states are legislating the banning of critical race theory, “woke” thinking, and other subjects deemed “uncomfortable.” Politicians seeking support from extreme groups have turned to demonizing students and professors who advocate social justice. Often, religion is used and misused to promote the most autocratic social tendencies. What responsibility does the Academy have to the public when religion is used to disenfranchised racial and ethnic minoritized people? When attempts are made to shove the queer community back into closets while denying women autonomy? When religion becomes nationalized to justify settler colonialism?
And finally, the call for academic freedom must begin at home. Before we focus on how religion is exploited in the public sphere, we strengthened our own internal bonds by respectfully supporting each other’s research, teaching, and writing – especially those with whom we disagree. In the name of academic freedom, we are compelled as AAR members to welcome and encourage each other. The voices of those on the margins of the Academy must be kept central for the sake of us all. We seek to protect everyone’s right to express themselves, devoid of hatred, and to call for change based on their identity and/or values, as a crucial responsibility of leadership.