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Religion in the Americas
Hector Avalos has been named general editor of new book series
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Conversations between Hector Avalos and a friend at one of the world's
largest and oldest publishers of academic books in the world were on a
very casual basis in late 2000.
At least that was what Avalos, associate professor of religious studies
and director of the U.S. Latino/a Studies program at Iowa State, thought.
"Patrick (Alexander, publishing director with Brill Academic Publishers)
approached me and asked me what my next book project would be," Avalos
said.
At the time, Avalos was beginning work on a new book for the University
of Texas Press entitled Religion and U.S. and Latino/a Literature.
"He said that he would love to have a book on the U.S. Latino/Latina
religious experience. I wrote an introduction and assembled a group of
scholars to speak on various religions," Avalos said.
The result is the forthcoming Brill volume, Introduction to the U.S.
Latino/Latina Experience Religious Experience. This was actually the
second book that Alexander and Avalos had worked on together. They had
previously collaborated on Avalos’ second book, Health Care and Rise
of Christianity.
When Alexander called again earlier this year, Avalos thought the conversations
were again on a very casual basis.
"Patrick said that Brill Academic Publishers was thinking of doing
a book series that focused on Latino/Latina religious studies in Latin
America and the United States," Avalos said. "I thought he was
only looking for a title for the series."
Avalos helped develop the title, “Religion in the Americas,”
and focus (works on religion among Spanish-speaking peoples from the tip
of South America to Canada) but his friend wanted a little more out of
the Iowa State religious studies professor.
"He came back and offered me the general editor position," Avalos
said.
Alexander felt Avalos was the perfect choice to become general editor
of the new series. The book series will explore the myriad unique religious
influences within South, Central, Latin, and North America. A particular
focus will rest upon Christianity’s historic interaction with the
societies, politics, religions, and cultures of Latinos/Latinas, Chicanos/Chicanas,
and other Spanish-speaking peoples of the Americas.
"Dr. Avalos was my first choice to coordinate this because of his
knowledge and interest and because of his ability to bring together and
evaluate the necessary individuals and scholarly resources," Alexander
writes. "His familiarity with Latino/Latina studies coincided with
my own interest to develop this subject area for Brill."
It's a challenge that Avalos is looking forward to.
"This is a wonderful chance for me to become a major participant
in a new field of study," Avalos said.
The study of the Latino/Latina religious experiences in the Americas is
a relatively new field. Avalos feels this has the potential of "putting
Iowa State and its U.S. Latino/a Studies program on the map."
"My vision for the U.S. Latino/a Studies program here at Iowa State
is to become nationally recognized," he said. "In order to do
that, we have to create our own niches. This area could be one of those
niches."
The "Religion in the Americas" book series and Avalos' forthcoming
publications should help establish Iowa State's program as a leader in
this field.
A "revolution" in Latino/Latina religious experiences currently
underway could also shift some focus to Iowa State's studies. Avalos says
that there is currently a significant shift in the religious preferences
among Latinos in the Americas from Catholicism to Protestantism.
"This shift is changing the face of modern Latin American religions,"
he said. "This is the most exciting thing to happen in Latin America
for sociologists and religious studies professionals in the last 25 years."
Around LAS
November 18 to December 1, 2002
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