Prof. Jonathan Calvillo Named HTI 2021 Book Prize Winner
Hispanic Theological Initiative announced its 2021 Book Award Winners at the beginning of January. Assistant Professor of Sociology of Religion Jonathan Calvillo was one of three awardees for his publication The Saints of Santa Ana: Faith and Ethnicity in a Mexican Majority City.
“I am grateful to the many people who moved this project forward,” Prof. Calvillo writes in his publication’s acknowledgements. “Boston University School of Theology was exceedingly supportive of my research and writing.”
The synopsis of the book includes, “Catholicism has long been the dominant religion among ethnic Mexicans in the U.S. Recent shifts, however, have challenged the traditional association between Mexican ethnicity and Catholicism. Evangelical Protestantism has emerged as a notable alternative of ethnic identity expression for ethnic Mexicans. How does faith shape these immigrants’ sense of ethnic identity? To answer this question, The Saints of Santa Ana compares the experiences of Catholic and Evangelical Mexican immigrants-the two largest religious groupings in the city. Drawing on five years of participant observation and in-depth interviews, this book argues that religious affiliations set Catholics and Evangelicals along diverging trajectories with regard to ethnic identity.”
“I am extremely honored to receive this recognition,” says Prof. Calvillo.