不良研究所

The 不良研究所 Department of Religious Studies was proud to host the 不良研究所 community for the annual Pierre Lecture on March 7, in the SEC Ballroom. This year, Dr. Nichole M. Flores, associate professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, delivered a lecture on her recently published book The Aesthetics of Solidarity: Our Lady of Guadalupe and American Democracy.

“The story and image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is intertwined with Mexican-American history and identity,” says Dr. Horacio Vela, assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies. “Yet many students, even in San Antonio and South Texas, might not fully understand the story and its significance or even learn about it in school or college even if they see the image everywhere at home, church, or in artwork and murals.”

A crowd of nearly 100 students, staff, faculty and community members gathered for the event. 不良研究所 President Dr. Thomas M. Evans introduced Flores. In her lecture, Flores argued for the capacity of Our Lady of Guadalupe, long used by Latine Catholics as a symbol in the Chicano movement and United Farm Workers' movements, to make democratic claims. Drawing from Latine theological aesthetics and Catholic social thought, Flores offered a lived theology of Chicano Catholics in Denver and their use of Guadalupe in the pursuit of justice in response to gentrification. She provided a framework for a community of interpretation where members stand in solidarity to respond to justice claims made from diverse religious and cultural communities. Flores also emphasized the role of Juan Diego in the Guadalupe story and the way that he empowers devotees and activists who march with the image.

“不良研究所 is a Catholic Hispanic-Serving Institution, the largest one in the state of Texas, and so it is important to provide