Keynote presenters
Sandra Arenas Pérez
Decana, La Facultad de Ciencias Religiosas y Filosofía de la Universidad Católica de Temuco
Manuel Montt 056
Temuco, Araucanía, Chile
Sandra Arenas Pérez is the Dean of the Faculty of Religious Sciences and Philosophy at the Catholic University of Temuco, Chile. She holds a PhD in Systematic Theology from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, having graduated at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile with her first degree. She is currently a member of the steering committee of the Ecclesiological Investigations Unit at the American Academy of Religion. Her published works have dealt with contemporary issues of ecclesiology, and with ecumenism in Latin America and the Caribbean since Vatican II.
Radu Bordeianu
Professor of Theology / Director of Graduate Studies
Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, PA 15282 USA
Radu Bordeianu is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at Duquesne University. The author of several books and numerous articles, his research focuses on ecumenical ecclesiologies, especially the dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic churches, the relationship between the Trinity and the Church, theology of creation, and environmental issues. He served as President of the Orthodox Theological Society in America (OTSA), is currently a member of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, and is one of the co-conveners of the Jewish-Christian Dialogue in Pittsburgh, PA.
Namsoon Kang
Professor of Theology and Religion
Brite Divinity School TCU Box 298130
Fort Worth, TX 76129 USA
Namsoon Kang is Professor of Theology and Religion at Brite Divinity School, located in Fort Worth, Texas. Writing both in English and Korean, her publications cover discourses of cosmopolitanism, apophatic theology/philosophy, postmodernism, postcolonialism, feminism, and diaspora studies. She has lectured widely throughout the world, and has been active in global ecumenical work, including having served from 2008 to 2015 as President of the WorldConference of Associations of Theological Institutions.
Bryan Massingale
James and Nancy Buckman Chair in Applied Christian Ethics
Department of Theology, Rose Hill Campus, Fordham University
441 East Fordham Road
Bronx, New York 10458 USA
Bryan N. Massingale is the James and Nancy Buckman Professor of Theological and Social Ethics at Fordham University in New York City, and the Senior Ethics Fellow in Fordham’s Center for Ethics Education. His research and publications have dealt with issues of racism and white supremacy in the Catholic Church, inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons, and other matters concerning justice. Among his numerous activities he has served as a past Convener of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium and a former President of the Catholic Theological Society of America. He has served on a number of editorial boards, has been a consultant to the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops and other Catholic agencies, and is the recipient of fur honorary degrees. Professor Massingale is often described as striving to be a scholar-activist through serving faith-based groups advancing justice in society.
JoAnne Marie Terrell
Kenneth B. Smith, Sr. Professor of Public Ministry and
Associate Professor of Theology, Ethics, and the Arts
Chicago Theological Seminary
1407 E. 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637 USA
JoAnne Marie Terrell is Kenneth B. Smith, Sr. Professor of Public Ministry and Associate Professor of Theology, Ethics, and the Arts at Chicago Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. Her current research interests are interreligious in scope, and focus on soteriological principles in Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity, the genre of spiritual autobiography, and the power of the visual and performing arts to effect personal, social, and cosmic transformation. She writes of her own work: “As a black, womanist, spiritually eclectic theologian, my response has been to delve into the sustaining theological traditions, look to the arts, privilege creativity in the classroom and utilize drama as public pedagogy. … Despite the wretched conditions humankind continuously faces, I believe in the beauty that is, and it is my scholarly and pastoral duty to pursue and find it.”