Miguel A. De La Torre

Bio

Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre – international scholar, documentarian, novelist, academic author, and scholar activist. The focus of Dr. De La Torre’s academic pursuit is social ethics within contemporary U.S. thought, specifically how religion affects race, class, and gender oppression. Since obtaining his doctoral in 1999, he has authored over a hundred articles and published forty-one books (six of which won national awards).

He presently serves as Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. A Fulbright scholar, he has taught in Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Germany; and lectured in Costa Rica, Cuba, Palestine, Thailand, Taiwan. Within his guild he served as the 2012 President of the Society of Christian Ethics. He is the recipient of the 2020 AAR Excellence in Teaching Award and the 2021 Martin E. Marty Public Understanding of Religion Award. Within the academy, he served as a past-director to the American Academy of Religion, and served on the editorial board of JAAR. Additionally, he was the co-founder and executive director (2013-2017) of the Society of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion and the founding editor of the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion. Dr. De La Torre has written numerous articles in popular media and has served on several civic organizations.

Recently, he wrote the screenplay to a documentary on immigration (http://www.trailsofhopeandterrorthemovie.com/) which has screened in over eighteen film festivals winning over seven awards. Additionally, he has written an autofiction magical realism novel.

Honors

2021 Received the Exemplary Teacher of the Year Award by the Division of Higher Education of the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Higher Education

2021 DULCCES Grant to do research on the Mexican and Palestine Border ($5,000)

2021 Luce-AAR Advancing Public Scholarship Grant to do a podcast ($5,000)

2021 Received the American Academy of Religion Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion

2021 Received the American Academy of Religion Excellence in Teaching Award.

2019 Louisville Institute Research Grant for Researchers ($30,000).

2018 Nautilus Silver Winner for Faith and Resistance in an Age of Trump.

2018 DULCCES Grant to do research in Cuba ($5,000)

2017 Louisville Institute Sabbatical Grant for Researchers ($40,000).

2017 Fulbright scholar at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany.

2016 2015-16 Denver University/Iliff Outstanding Faculty Member Award.

2015 DULCCES Grant to make a documentary ($10,000)

2014 Visiting scholar at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa.

2012 Fulbright scholar at Universitas Gadjah Mada Graduate School in Indonesia.

2010 Received the Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award for Encyclopedia Hispanic American Religious Cultures.

2005 Received the Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award for Santería: The Beliefs and Rituals of a Growing Religion in America.

2005 Received an Honorable Mention in Educational Books by the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada for Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins.

2005 Received ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Finalist Award for Santería: The Beliefs and Rituals of a Growing Religion in America.

2004 Summer Writing Grant from Hope College ($3,600).

2003 Received First Place in Educational Books by the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada for Reading the Bible from the Margins.

2003 McGregor Award ($2,000).

2002 “Outstanding Hispanic Educator” award by the Michigan Hispanic Legislative Caucus.

2002 Faculty Fund for Faith ($4000 + a semester sabbatical).

2001 Summer Writing Grant from the Jobe and Julie Morrison Family. Faculty Development Fund in combination with the Norman and Ruth Peale Fund ($3600).

2000 Post-Doctoral Summer Writing Grant from the Hispanic Theological Initiative ($8000).

2000 The Hispanic Churches in American Public Life Writing Grant ($3000).

1999 Frederick Douglass Summer Teaching Fellowship ($1,800).

Additional Links

The following links are to sites unrelated and are not maintained by The Iliff School of Theology.

Freedom of expression is supported by The Iliff School of Theology; as such, the ideas and opinions expressed in these links may not necessarily reflect the policies or perspectives of The Iliff School of Theology, but those of individuals.

• Personal blog: Our Lucha.
• Personal website.
• Speaking Engagements.
• Wikipedia Article.
• ProfNet expert of the week.
• Judgement Day? or Not? CBSNews – Miguel De La Torre fielded questions from media across the country as predictions of Judgement Day neared.
• Dead chicken believed to be part of Santeria ritual.
• Catholic News Service Whoever church chooses as pope, his voice matters, say non-Catholics, By Dennis Sadowski Catholic News Service. Miguel De La Torre quoted.
• Al Jazeera Pope Francis: A symbol of change?Joining Inside Story Americas, with presenter Shihab Rattansi, are guests: Ivan Petrella, an Argentine social theorist; Miguel de la Torre, a religion professor at the Iliff School of Theology; and Sister Mary Ellen Lacy one of the “Nuns on the Bus” who traveled across the US during the presidential election campaign to promote social justice and protest against cuts in programmes for the poor.