Robert Chao Romero

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Robert Chao Romero

Robert Chao Romero

Vice Chair, Director of Graduate Studies, & Associate Professor
Core Faculty

Office: 7353 Bunche Hall

Biography

Robert Chao Romero received his Ph.D. from UCLA in Latin American history and his Juris Doctor from U.C. Berkeley. His research explores the little-known history of Asian-Latinos, as well as the role of Christianity in social justice movements in Latin America and among U.S. Latinas/os. Romero is the author of several books, including, “The Chinese in Mexico, 1882-1940” and “Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity.” “The Chinese in Mexico” received the Latina/o Studies book award from the Latin American Studies Association and “Brown Church” received the InterVarsity Press Readers’ Choice Award for best academic title. Romero is also an attorney, ordained minister, and faith rooted community organizer.

Education

  • PhD, Latin American History, UCLA (2003)
  • JD, UC Berkeley (1998)
  • BA, History, UCLA (1994)

Research

  • History of Latina/o Christianity
  • Religion and Social Movements
  • Chinese in Mexico
  • Asians in Latin America
  • Chicano Legal History

Selected Publications

  • The Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity (2020)
  • Migration, Mission, and Ministry: An Introduction (2021)
  • Mixed Race Student Politics: The “Third Wave” Movement at UCLA (2019)
  • The Chinese in Mexico, 1882-1940 (2010)
  • “The Spiritual Praxis of César Chávez.” Perspectivas: Journal of the Hispanic Theological Initiative (Princeton Theological Seminary). Issue 14. Spring 2017
  • “Toward a Perspective of Brown Theology.” In, Evangelical Theologies of Liberation and Justice. Ed., Mae Elise Cannon and Andrea Smith. InterVarsity Press Academic (2019)
  • “Towards a Perspective of the Christian-Ethnic Studies Borderlands and Critical Race Theory in Christianity.” ChristianityNext Journal. Winter 2017: 45-65
  • “Migration as Grace.” International Journal of Urban Transformation. October 2016, Volume 1.
  • “El Destierro de los Chinos”: Popular Perspectives of Chinese-Mexican Interracial Marriage in the Early Twentieth. Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies 32, no. 1 (Spring 2007)
  • “Transnational Chinese Immigrant Smuggling to the United States via Mexico and Cuba, 1882-1916.” Amerasia Journal 30, no. 3 (2004/2005): 1-16.

Honors & Awards

  • Latina/o Studies Section Book Award, Latin American Studies Association (The Chinese in Mexico, 1882-1940)
  • InterVarsity Press Readers’ Choice Award for best academic title (Brown Church)
  • Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award (Brown Church)
  • Jesus Creed Book of the Year, Christianity Today (Brown Church)
  • Louisville Institute Sabbatical Grant for Researchers
  • Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • U.C. President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship

Courses

Undergraduate
  • Chicana and Chicano Studies 150: Mestizaje: History of the Diverse Racial and Cultural Roots of Chicanas and Chicanos
  • Chicana and Chicano Studies 178: Latinas/os and the Law: Comparative and Historical Perspectives
Graduate
  • Chicana and Chicano Studies 213: Asian-Latinos
  • Chicana and Chicano Studies 213: The Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity
  • Chicana and Chicano Studies 282: Chicana/o Legal History