Edwin David Aponte

Edwin David Aponte is a Presbyterian Latino cultural historian and Hispanic theologian and influential contributor in the on-going development of U.S. Hispanic theology [http://www.religionlink.org/tip_061204.php] . Aponte is a cultural historian of religion in the United States focusing on in the interplay between religion and culture, especially Hispanic/Latino(a) religions, African-American religions, North American religious history. He is one of a small number of U.S. Hispanic historians of Christianity. [See Hispanics and Religion in the USA, [http://www.religionlink.org/tip_061204.php] ]

Aponte was born August 4, 1957 in Bridgeport, Connecticut of Roman Catholic Puerto Rican parents.

Since July 2006 Aponte has been Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Seminary of Lancaster Theological Seminary [http://www.lancasterseminary.edu/index.html] in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he also serves as professor of religion and culture.

Education

Aponte received a B.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies from Gordon College (Massachusetts) in 1979, a M.A. in Theological Studies with a concentration in Old Testament from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 1982, a M.A. in Religion in 1994 and Ph.D. in religion in 1998 both from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Scholarly activity

From 1994-1998 he was founding Director of the Institute for International and Cultural Studies at North Park University in Chicago composed of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Center for Korean Studies, the Center for Africana Studies, the Center for Scandinavian Studies, and the Center for Latino Studies [http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?northpark=Centers_Latino.CtrsL_main] , each involved in intercultural, international, and inter-religious initiatives and activities. Concurrently Aponte served as the founding Executive Director of the Center for Latino Studies. From 1998-2006 Aponte served on the faculty of Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas where he was Director of Advanced Studies (2004-2006) and Associate Professor of Christianity and Culture.

Aponte has received fellowships and research support from the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, the Fund for Theological Education, the Hispanic Theological Initiative, Temple University, Southern Methodist University, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Fund for Graduate Education of the Presbyterian Church, (USA), The Louisville Institute, and The Lilly Endowment, Inc.

Aponte has served almost continually on the Governing Board of the Hispanic Summer Program since 1994, notably seven years as Secretary and member of the Executive Committee. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and serves on the Academic Relations Committee and the Steering Committee of the History of Christianity section of the AAR.

Aponte is a member of the Re-forming Ministry Initiative a national project of the Presbyterian Church (USA). [See the Re-Forming the Center website, http://www.pcusa.org/re-formingministry/participants.htm] He also is a member of the Selection Committee of the Hispanic Theological Initiative, [http://www.htiprogram.org/] a program with the mission to assist Latino/a doctoral candidates through scholarships, mentoring, and supportive networks.

Selected writings

;Books
*"Handbook of Latina/o Theologies", co-edited with Miguel A. De La Torre, St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2006.
*"Introducing Latino/a Theologies", co-authored with Miguel A. De La Torre. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2001.;Book Chapters and Articles
*“Metaphysical Blending in Latino/a Botánicas in Dallas,” in "Rethinking Latino/a Religion and Identity", Miguel A. De La Torre and Gastón Espinosa, eds. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2006.

*“Theological and Cultural Competence en Conjunto,” in "Handbook of Latina/o Theologies", Edwin David Aponte and Miguel A. De La Torre, eds. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2006.

*“A View from the Margins: Constructing a History of Latino/a Protestantism,” in "Latino Christian Thought at the Dawn of the 21st Century: Apuntes in Honor of Justo L. González", Alvin Padilla, Roberto Goizueta, and Eldin Villafañe, ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2005.

*“Rethinking the Core: African and African American Religious Perspectives in the Seminary Curriculum,” in "Teaching African American Religions" (AAR Teaching Series), Carolyn M. Jones and Theodore Louis Trost, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

*“Hispanics” in "Handbook of U.S. Theologies of Liberation", Miguel A. De La Torre, ed. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2004.

*“Music and the U.S. Latina and Latino Experience,” in "Introduction to the U.S. Latina and Latino Religious Experience", Hector Avalos, ed. Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 2004.

*“Hispanic/Latino Protestantism in Philadelphia,” in "Re-Forming the Center: American Protestantism 1900 to the Present", Douglas Jacobsen and William Vance Trollinger, Jr., eds. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998.

*“Coritos as Active Symbol in Latino Protestant Popular Religion.” "Journal of Hispanic/Latino Theology", 2:3 (1995) 57-66.

References

See Hispanics and Religion in the USA, [http://www.religionlink.org/tip_061204.php]
See the Re-Forming the Center website, [http://www.pcusa.org/re-formingministry/participants.htm]

External links

* [http://library.lts.org/faculty/eaponte/eaponte.htm Lancaster Theological Seminary Faculty webpage]
* [http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?northpark=Centers.Ctrs_Main International and Cultural Studies, North Park University]

Hispanic theologians