Education
PhD, Rutgers University
Bio
Rafael was educated at Rutgers University – New Brunswick and at Northwestern University. As a philosopher who specializes in Latin American and Caribbean thought, his work employs decolonial approaches to examine the intersections between race, religion, politics, and secularization. In 2020, he earned the American Philosophical Association’s Essay Prize in Latin American Thought.
Rafael’s first book, tentatively titled Decolonizing the Postsecular, brings debates on epistemic decolonization to bear on sociological and philosophical theories of secularization and postsecularity as developed by figures such as José Casanova and Jürgen Habermas. It traces a relation between processes of secularization and processes of colonization in the West and offers a new account of the modern “dialectics of secularization” from the perspective of decolonization. Provisional arguments related to this book can be found in the APA Newsletter on Hispanic/Latino Issues in Philosophy, The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, and Comparative and Continental Philosophy.
His second book project, tentatively titled Modernity as Political Theology: A Decolonial Argument, expands on one line of inquiry opened in Decolonizing the Postsecular: the relation between philosophy of religion and political theology in the context of epistemic decolonization. Views related to this manuscript can be found in the Journal of World Philosophies and the Journal of the American Academy of Religion.
His work also explores the role of spirituality in decolonization, methodological issues in the framework of epistemic decolonization, as well as an array of various contemporary problems in social and political philosophy.
At DePaul, he is on the advisory boards for the Honors Program and the Center for Religion, Culture and Community. Outside DePaul, he is Book Review Editor of Philosophy and Global Affairs and Co-Chair of the Secularism and Secularity Unit at the American Academy of Religion.
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For more details and the latest information on his research, teaching, and scholarly activities, please visit his website.
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Some news about Rafael:
- Hispanic Theological Initiative Open Plaza podcast interview: English, Castellano.
- DePaul Newsline faculty spotlight interview.
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Contribution to DePaul’s Courageous Dialogue Series.
- American Philosophical Association’s news release about receiving the 2020 Essay Prize in Latin American Thought.