Lauren Frances Guerra
Biography
Dr. Lauren Frances Guerra grew up in the heart of Los Angeles, California. She is of Guatemalan-Ecuadorian descent and an active member of the Roman Catholic Church. She earned her doctorate in Systematic and Philosophical Theology from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. She is currently serving as a Lecturer in the Department of Chicanx and Central American Studies at UCLA and Visiting Professor in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. As a Systematic Theologian, she approaches the theological task with the complexities of race, class, and gender in mind. Popular Religion and community-based art inform her theologizing. Teaching and research combines all of those things that are most important to her including: faith, culture, and justice. Her current research interests include: U.S. Latina/o theology, Theological Aesthetics, and Chicana/o Studies. Her long-term goal is to serve as an advocate for the U.S. Latina/o community through her work.
Education
Graduate Theological Union- Berkeley, California
Systematic and Philosophical Theology
Allied Field: Art and Religion, Theological Aesthetics
Degree: PhD, May 2016
Saint Louis University – Madrid, Spain
Major: Peninsular and Latin American Literature
Degree: MA, May 2008
Graduate Theological Union- Berkeley, California
Major: Systematic and Philosophical Theology
Degree: MA, May 2007
Loyola Marymount University- Los Angeles, California
Majors: Theological Studies and Spanish
Minor: Philosophy
Dual Degree: BA, Cum Laude May 2004
Selected Publications
- “Latinx Catholicism”
Cambridge Handbook of American Catholicism (Forthcoming, Cambridge University Press) - “You don’t belong here,” in Unruly Catholic Women Vol. 4. Eds. Jeanna Del Rosso and Leigh Eicke. (Forthcoming, State University of New York Press)
- “Latinxs, Art, and Christianity” in Oxford Handbook of Latinx Christianities, Ed. Kristy Nabhan-Warren (Forthcoming, Oxford University Press)
- “Telling Our Stories: The Cultural and Religious Insights of Sandra Cisneros,” in The Journal of Latina Critical Feminism, Vol. 1 Issue 1 (March 2018), 78-86.
- “Latina Liberation: A Meditation on Writing,” In Voices from the Ancestors and Beyond: Chicanx and Latinx Spiritual Expressions, Eds. Lara Medina and Martha Gonzales. (Fall 2019, University of Arizona Press)
- “The Incarnate God and Embodied Desire,” In Voices from the Ancestors and Beyond: Chicanx and Latinx Spiritual Expressions, Eds. Lara Medina and Martha Gonzales. (Fall 2019, University of Arizona Press)
Courses
Undergraduate: CS188 U.S. Latino/a Culture and Religious Expression Graduate: CS 291 Latinx Spirituality
