Loyola faculty member receives awards from the Louisville Institute and The Kroc Institute of Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame
Daniel Castillo, Ph.D., associate professor of theology, received a Sabbatical Grant for Researchers from the Louisville Institute. The $29,873 grant partially supports Castillo’s salary while on sabbatical as well as conference travel. Receiving this highly competitive grant will allow Castillo to work on his book, “I Have Seen”: God-Talk and Christian Praxis in the Anthropocene, during the 2020-2021 academic year. In further support of this project, Castillo was also named a Visiting Research Fellow at the Kroc Institute of Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. As a fellow, he will have the opportunity to converse with a number of scholars from around the world, working out of diverse disciplines.
“I Have Seen”: God-Talk and Christian Praxis in the Anthropocene argues that the Anthropocene should be interpreted in light of this geological era’s historical roots in Western colonial and neocolonial practices of extraction. The project then reflects on what forms Christian discipleship should take within this context.
“My work elaborates on the need for communities of faith to cultivate beauty and justice upon the earth while simultaneously entering into practices of prophetic mourning,” said Castillo. “I Have Seen concludes by examining concretely how these practices can serve to construct both a political ecology and a spirituality of reparation.”
Castillo also plans to use this time to develop themes and topics related to theology and political ecology to assist with his future teachings at Loyola.
“I'm deeply grateful to receive these awards from the Louisville Institute and the Kroc Institute,” said Castillo. “I'm heartened that Louisville and Kroc are funding work that explores the root causes of the unfolding eco-social planetary emergency and considers how communities of faith might respond rightly to the moral dilemmas this emergency brings with it.”
For more information about the project, please visit both the Louisville Institute's website and the Kroc Institute's website.