Theresa L. Torres, Assistant Professor, Religious Studies, Anthropology (B.A., Benedictine College, 1978; Boston College, 1992; Catholic University of America, PhD 2003). Publications: “Posadas.” The Catholic Encyclopedia (The Catholic University Press, 2003); “La Quinceañera: Traditioning and the Social Construction of the Mexican American Female” in Futuring our Past, ed. Orlando Espin, Gary Macy, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2006. “Our Lady of Guadalupe.” In Global Dictionary of Theology, ed. William Dyrness, Veli-Matti Karkkainen, Simon Chan, Nzash Lumeya, and Juan Francisco Martinez. InterVarsity Press, Downers Gove, Ill., forthcoming, 2008. Between 1999-2001, Dr. Torres received: the Hispanic Theological Initiative Dissertation Award, the Hispanic Theological Initiative Special Mentoring Award, and the Hispanic Theological Initiative Doctoral Award from the Pew Foundation. She was also awarded a Social Science Research Training Fellowship from the Office of Research for Religion in Society & Culture at City University of New York in 1999-2000.

Dr. Torres is currently completing her research on Latina religious and civic activism in the historic Latino Westside community of Kansas City, Missouri. She is also researching (with Dr. Gary Burkart) the levels of acceptance and tension surrounding religious, cultural, and political diversity among the student population of a small Christian college in the Midwest.