I am a professor of Catholic
studies and director of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural
Theology, a research center housed in the Department of Catholic Studies and
focusing on the Catholic Church in the global South—Africa, Asia, and Latin
America. I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame, where I
planned to study chemical engineering but got hooked on theology. I received a
master’s degree from Cambridge University in England and then spent two years
working for the Church in a poor area of Santiago, Chile, under the military
dictatorship. Upon returning to the United States, I got a PhD from Duke
University, and then taught at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota for 15
years before coming to DePaul. I am married and have three sons.Research
My major areas of research have to do with the Church’s
encounter with social, political, and economic realities. I am especially
interested in the social implications of traditional Catholic beliefs and
practices, such as the Eucharist. I have authored six books and edited three
more; my books and articles have been published in 10 languages. I have dealt
with themes of the Church’s social and political presence in situations of
violence and economic injustice. I am currently working on a book on secularization
and idolatry, exploring the ways in which a supposedly disenchanted Western
society remains enchanted by nationalism, consumerism, and cults of celebrity.
Teaching
Much of my teaching has been at the level of introducing
students to the Catholic tradition, either through our “Introduction to
Catholicism” course, or one of our history courses. I try to teach in an
interdisciplinary way, showing the riches and challenges of the Catholic
tradition through art, theology, scripture, music, poetry, history, novels, and
so on. Some of the more specialized courses I have taught include courses on
Christianity and consumer culture, and a course on Latin American theology. One
of my favorite courses to teach is a first-year Discover Chicago course entitled
“Global Catholicism in Story and Stone.” During Immersion Week, my staff and I
take students to ethnic Catholic churches in Chicago: Polish, Irish, Chinese,
Mexican, African American, etc. We tell the story of immigrant Catholicism in
Chicago through history and theology, but especially through art and
architecture.