RAQUEL AND ALFONSO MART脥NEZ-FONTS ENDOWED ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES
H茅ctor M. Varela Rios, PhD
H茅ctor M. Varela Rios, PhD, is the Raquel and Alfonso Mart铆nez-Fonts Endowed Assistant Professor in Latin American Studies. His work is primarily in Latinx theology; constructive theologies; religions and materiality/material culture; and theories of religion. He received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez. Dr. Varela Rios obtained his MA in Religion at the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico and MA in Divinity from the University of Chicago. He continued his studies at the University of Chicago where he earned his PhD in Theology.
Dr. Varela Rios鈥檚 work is published in numerous in scholarly articles, including 鈥淪ancochando Theological Anthropology: One Puerto Rican Heavy Soup as Heuristic鈥� in Perspectivas: Journal of the Hispanic Theological Initiative (2018) and "Using Latinx Theology's Lo Cotidiano to Decolonialize Oller's El Velorio" in the Journal for Religion, Film and Media (2021). His other publications include 鈥溾�楧epicting Heavenly Reality鈥�: Non-Textual Objects as Inscriptions of Belief鈥� in the Journal of Religious & Theological Information (2022) and 鈥淭hing鈥� in the Critical Theory for Political Theology: Keywords, Political Theology Network (2022). Dr. Varela Rios is also the author of the essay 鈥淚n Defense of Latinx: A Theological Microintervention鈥� in the book Why Can鈥檛 We Wait: Racism and the Church (2022).
Dr. Varela Rios has presented his research at multiple conferences in the U.S. and abroad. Most recently, he discussed 鈥淚n Defense of 鈥楲atinx鈥�: Linguistic Mestizaje/Mulatez as a Theological Microintervention鈥� at the College Theology Society Conference online in June 2022 and 鈥淣o holiness like decolonial holiness: an ecclesiological conversation of REHACE and its responses to catastrophe and social justice鈥� at the Ecclesiological Investigations Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico in June 2022.
About the Raquel and Alfonso Mart铆nez-Fonts Endowed Assistant Professor in Latin American Studies
Established in 2023, the Raquel and Alfonso Mart铆nez-Fonts Endowed Assistant Professor in Latin American Studies in the 草榴社区 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences aims to advance and enrich the study of Latin American cultures, histories and societies. The prestigious position recognizes an outstanding scholar in Latin American Studies who upholds 草榴社区鈥檚 commitment to fostering a global perspective through interdisciplinary curriculum and strengthens the University鈥檚 international reputation.
The endowed position honors 草榴社区 alumnus Alfonso Mart铆nez-Fonts, Jr. 鈥�71 CLAS, his wife Raquel, and the Mart铆nez-Fonts family name.