Baylor’s Readers Meet the Author Series Welcomes Professor João Chaves
On Wednesday, November 8, at Noon, Dr. Felipe Hinojosa, the John and Nancy Jackson Endowed Chair in Latin America and Professor of History, will interview Dr. João Chaves, Assistant Professor of the History of Religion in the Américas, about his recent publication, “Migrational Religion: Context and Creativity in the Latinx Diaspora” (Baylor Press, 2021), as part of Baylor University’s ongoing Readers Meet the Author Series. The conversation, presented by the Office of the Provost and the Office of the President, will be held on the first floor of Moody Memorial Library in the Schumacher Flex Commons.
This free event will be hosted in person and live-streamed via Zoom Webinar. Light refreshments and a book signing with Dr. Chaves will follow the conversation.
João Chaves joined the Department of Religion at Baylor University this fall. His research focuses on the history of religion in the Américas, the influence of U.S. Protestantism in Latin America, and the development of Latin American/Latinx religious networks in the United States. He is an award-winning author whose writings also include “The Global Mission of the Jim Crow South: Southern Baptist Missionaries and the Shaping of Latin American Evangelicalism” (Mercer University Press, 2022), and “Remembering Antônia Teixeira: A Story of Missions, Violence, and Institutional Hypocrisy” (Eerdmans, 2023), co-authored with Dr. Mikeal Parsons. Dr. Chaves also co-edited a book with Dr. T. Laine Scales, titled “Baptists and the Kingdom of God: Global Perspectives” (Baylor University Press, 2023). His peer-reviewed articles appear in several academic journals, such as “The International Journal of Latin American Religions,” “The Journal of Reformed Theology,” “Political Theology,” “Review and Expositor,” “Perspectives in Religious Studies,” and “Baptist History and Heritage.”
In “Migrational Religion,” Chaves presents ethnographic research on 11 Brazilian immigrant congregations across a span of six years. The book demonstrates the dynamics of religious participation, political engagement, civic formation, and theological development among Brazilian Baptists who migrated from their missionary-established churches to immigrant churches in the United States.
The Readers Meet the Author Series encourages opportunities for Baylor faculty, staff, students, and others to gather for shared reflection and collegial conversation about big ideas presented in recent faculty publications. President Livingstone notes, “This series presents a unique opportunity to showcase the exceptional work of our faculty while also celebrating that which is great about the academe — our ability to share perspectives and ideas with each other for the sake of civil academic discourse.”
For more information visit provost.web.baylor.edu/rma or contact the Office of the Provost at (254) 710-3601.