Religious Beliefs and Conflict: The Case of Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (10/30/25)

Join us for a talk by PhD student Ana María Rodríguez Alfonso. Ana María is a Colombian lawyer with a master’s degree in Law and Economics. She has experience in Public Law, Human Rights, and the Reintegration of ex-combatants. She also holds a Master of Divinity from Boston University, where she worked as a graduate researcher in the Religion and Conflict Transformation program. Currently, Ana María is a PhD candidate at the Toronto School of Theology, focusing her research on violence, trauma, justice, and decolonial theory.

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Statement on Diversity and Inclusion

The Center for Latin American Studies at Boston University is proud of BU’s history of diversity and inclusion. BU’s founders opened the University’s doors to all students without regard to religion, race, or gender, and building and sustaining a vibrant community of scholars, students, and staff remains essential to its mission of contributing to and preparing students to thrive in, an increasingly interconnected world.

Success in a competitive, global milieu depends upon our ongoing commitment to welcome and engage the wisdom, creativity, and aspirations of all peoples and the Center for Latin American Studies is vital to the University’s mission of preparing global citizens. We forge concrete initiatives to integrate faculty and students across the university in the promotion of antiracism, diversity, and inclusion from a Latin American Studies perspective. Through our in-depth and interdisciplinary academic programs, as well as through a rich array of talks, lectures, round-table discussions, conferences, and other educational and cultural events, we assist the University in its efforts to create environments for learning, working, and living that are enriched by racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity.

At the Center for Latin American Studies, we believe in and practice respect for individual differences in life experience, sexual orientation, and religious belief, and we aspire to be free of intellectual parochialism, barriers to access, and ethnocentrism. We appreciate and deeply value the contributions and talents of every member of the Boston University community and invite you to learn more about us.