HTI Open Plaza

In this episode of OP Talks, Dr. Felipe Hinojosa, historian, professor, and endowed chair for Baylor in Latin America, talks with Dr. Gina M. Pérez, cultural anthropologist, professor and chair of Comparative American Studies at Oberlin, about her recent book Sanctuary People: Faith-based Organizing in Latina/o Communities (NYU Press, 2024). Drawing from historical activist communities in Northeas...

In this episode of OPTalks, the HTI community and friends offer prayer and song as expressions of gratitude and strength, to offer company, in praise of peace and love.

In this episode of OPTalks , spiritual care counselor Rev. David Ramos shares his experiences providing pastoral and chaplaincy support at VNS Health (formerly Visiting Nurse Services) during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City . Hosted by Marta Lucía Vargas , managing editor of HTI Open Plaza , this conversation explores the challenges pastors and chaplains faced as they navigated trauma, fear...

In this episode of OPTalks, HTI community members offer prayers to bring us closer to the divine, the holy, toward hope, communal inspiration, and love.

In this episode of OPTalks, Rev. Dr. Joanne Rodríguez interviews Dr. Leopoldo A. Sánchez M. on Spirit Christology, which integrates the study of the Holy Spirit and the life and mission of Jesus Christ, bringing together Christology and pneumatology and asks what scripture says about the spirit in the life of Christ. Spirit Christology examines the Holy Spirit's role in Christ’s ministry and its i...

In this episode of OPTalks, Dr. Ish Ruiz and Dr. Colleen Mary Mallon, a Dominican Sister, discuss her latest book, Inclusivity and Institutional Change in Education: A Theologian's Journey (Eerdmans, 2024). The book examines the intersection of theology, education, and social justice, with a specific focus on race and LGBTQ+ inclusion. Sister Mallon shares insights from her book which offers a cri...

In this episode of OPTalks Father Brian Strassburger and Father Flavio Bravo talk with artist and anthropologist Cinthya Santos Briones about the Jesuits’ efforts on behalf of migrants in the Rio Grande Valley, what it means to acompañar migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border, and why they see themselves as an itinerant group as they work with migrants on both sides of the frontera. In 2021, a smal...

In this episode of OPTalks, Rev. Dr. Joanne Rodriguez interviews Dr. Xochitl Alviso, an associate professor at California State University, Northridge, who emphasizes the importance of grounding theological reflection in the lived experiences of Christian practice. The conversation delves into the dynamics of faith, community, and belonging, and reimagines how the church can more authentically emb...

In this episode of OPTalks, Isabel Gonzalez and Christian Silva—recent MDiv graduate and current master’s candidate at Princeton Theological Seminary—converse with Dr. Matthew Vega, an HTI Scholar and now assistant professor at the University of San Diego. The discussion centers on Dr. Vega’s dissertation on Blaxican theology, which uncovers intersections of Black and Latinx identities. It highlig...

This OPTalks episode features a conversation between Rev. Dr. Joanne Rodríguez and Dr. Teresa Delgado, who reflects on her experiences as a doctoral student, discussing the unique challenges she faced, particularly as a Latina balancing family responsibilities and academic demands. Dr. Delgado emphasizes the importance of community support, particularly the acompañamiento that HTI offers, which sh...

This OPTalks episode features a conversation between Dr. Yohana Junker and Rev. Dr. Aizaiah Yong exploring the intersections of art, spirituality, and decolonial studies within theological education. Reflecting on their co-teaching experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, Drs. Yong and Junker highlight the necessity of cultivating inclusive and compassionate classroom environments. The dialogue h...

This podcast episode features a dialogue between Stephen Di Trolio Coakley, a PhD student at Princeton Theological Seminary, and Dr. Edwin Hernández, President of Antillean Adventist University. The conversation chronicles Dr. Hernández' journey from his roots as a preacher’s child in Puerto Rico to his role in sociology, theology, and fundraising, particularly during his tenure at Louisville Inst...

In this episode of OP Talks, Rev. Dr. Joanne Rodríguez, HTI Executive Director, talks with Boston University doctoral candidate Daniel Montañez about directing the national Mygration Christian Conference that he founded in 2019. Montañez credits his mentorship and relationship with Dr. M. Daniel Carroll Rodas as integral to this work.  Regarding migration, Montañez relates that “...as people who a...

Dr. Felipe Hinojosa talks with fellow historian, colleague, and good friend Dr. Johanna Fernández, Associate Professor at Baruch College, about Latino history and the exhibit on youth movements that was put on hold by the Smithsonian National Museum in the fall of 2022. Dr. Fernández teaches 20th-century U.S. history and the history of social movements. Dr. Hinojosa is the John and Nancy Jackson E...

In this episode of OP Talks, Amanda Bolaños talks with fellow graduate student Amirah Orozco about mujerista theology, pneumatological ecclesiology and lo cotidiano (the everyday). Bolaños asks Orozco to imagine a conversation with late activist and theologian Ada María Isasi-Diaz for whom lo cotidiano was central to her work. Bolaños and Orozco are close friends and theology doctoral students at...

In this episode of OP Talks, Dr. Neomi De Anda talks to 2023 HTI Book Prize winner Dr. Marlene M. Ferreras about her book Insurrectionist Wisdoms: Toward a North American Indigenized Pastoral Theology (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022). Through practical theological and anthro/gynopological methods, Insurrectionist Wisdoms offers an analysis of the situation of working-class Maya mexicanas living in Yuc...

In this episode of OP Talks, Jacob Leal talks with his mentor Dr. Filipe Maia, Assistant Professor of Theology at the Boston University School of Theology, about his book, Trading Futures: A Theological Critique of Financialized Capitalism (Duke University Press, 2022), and pivots to the power of the imagination, ancestors and the interruption of linearity. Dr. Maia argues that a language of activ...

In this episode of OPTalks, PhD candidate Rebecca Mendoza interviews PhD candidate Anthony Trujillo about his mixed heritages as a member of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo and Mexican Catholic traditions on his father’s side, and the white settler Baptist ministers on his mother’s. This conversation was held at the 2023 American Academy of Religion in San Antonio where they talked about identity markers tha...

Dr. Alejandro Nava and Dr. Raúl Zegarra converse about their respective books, Street Scriptures: Between God and Hip-Hop (University of Chicago Press, 2022) and A Revolutionary Faith: Liberation Theology Between Public Religion and Public Reason (Stanford University Press, 2023). Both writers were students of David Tracy and they share the concern of public theology’s impact on broader society. D...

In this episode of OP Talks, Rev. Dr. Tony Tian-Ren Lin, talks with writer Grace Loh Prasad about her debut memoir The Translator’s Daughter (Mad Creek Books/The Ohio State University Press, 2024) and her life as the daughter of professor parents in Taiwan during the era of White Terror. Prasad’s father, a polyglot who was the first Taiwanese PhD graduate from Princeton Theological Seminary, trans...

In this episode of OP Talks, Amirah Orozco, a doctoral student of Systematic Theology at Notre Dame, talks with Dr. Raúl Zegarra, Assistant Professor of Roman Catholic Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School, about his book A Revolutionary Faith: Liberation Theology Between Public Religion and Public Reason (Stanford University Press, 2023). The book, which is in conversation with the work...

Amantina Durán medita sobre los regalos de su hija

In this episode of OP Talks, Dr. Javier Viera, President and Professor of Education and Leadership at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and Dr. Maria Liu Wong, City Seminary of New York Provost, discuss her recent book  On Becoming Wise Together: Learning and Leading in the City (Eerdmans, 2023). This work proposes “that intercultural and communal understandings of theological teaching and...

In this episode of OP Talks, Rev. Dr. Joanne Rodriguez, HTI Executive Director, talks with Dr. Luis G. Pedraja, President of Quinsigamond Community College, about his leadership trajectory from professor to senior administrator. The Cuban-born theologian started his career as a faculty member before becoming a chair, then later a dean and a provost. He describes transitioning between roles and the...