Embodying the Fruits of the Mind

podcastOPTalks
Written By Open Plaza

Rev. Dr. Joanne Rodríguez talks with Dr. Teresa Delgado about the communal value of acompañamiento while straddling the demands of academia into the challenges of the wider world

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Sonata No. 6, Stjernernes sonate. Allegro (Sonata No. 6, Sonata of the Stars. Allegro), 1908, 72.2 x 61.4 cm, National MK Čiurlioni Art Museum. Source/photographer: Villy Fink Isaksen, 2016. Image and caption Source: Wikimedia Commons

 
 

This OPTalks episode features a conversation between Rev. Dr. Joanne Rodríguez and Dr. Teresa Delgado, who reflects on her experiences as a doctoral student, discussing the unique challenges she faced, particularly as a Latina balancing family responsibilities and academic demands. Dr. Delgado emphasizes the importance of community support, particularly the acompañamiento that HTI offers, which she credits for her perseverance and success. She illustrates the impact of mentorship and the broader implications for women and mothers navigating the academic landscape, and its systemic challenges.

Dr. Delgado also describes the dissonance between her embodied understanding of theology and the cerebral expectations of the academy. The conversation highlights the importance of listening to students' experiences and rethinking traditional pedagogical silos within theological institutions. 

Reflecting on Dr. Daisy Machado’s work, Dr. Delgado heightens the potential of community by stating, “I'm thinking about the ways that…contemporary problems like the environmental crisis is requiring us to delve into church history and ethics and biblical studies and systematic theology across all of those, and social scientists and climate scientists draw from all of that kind of expertise to offer some kind of prophetic word into this moment.”

 
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Teresa Delgado

Dr. Teresa Delgado is Dean of St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of theology and religious studies at St. John’s University, NY. She previously held teaching positions at Iona College, where she was Chair of the Religious Studies Department and Program Director of Peace and Justice Studies. Dr. Delgado mentors doctoral students of color to nurture their success in the academy, church, and world. A Senior Fellow of the Ford Foundation, she has served on the board of the Hispanic Theological Initiative, as a member of the mentoring consortium of the Forum for Theological Exploration, and the advisory committee of the Wabash Center for Teaching & Learning in Theology and Religion. Dr. Delgado served as President of the Board of WESPAC (Westchester People’s Action Coalition), a leading force of social justice activism in Westchester County, and currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Colgate University and The Ursuline School. Dr. Delgado holds PhD, MPhil, and MA degrees in Systematic Theology from Union Theological Seminary and a BA in Religion and Women's Studies from Colgate University. Her research interests and scholarship engage the experiences of marginalized peoples to articulate a constructive theological/ethical vision. She has published on topics ranging from diversity in higher education, transformational pedagogies, constructive theology and ethics, and justice for racial/ethnic/sexual minoritized persons. Dr. Delgado is the author of A Puerto Rican Decolonial Theology: Prophesy Freedom (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), and she is currently working on a manuscript in sexual ethics, titled “Loving Sex: Envisioning a Relevant Catholic Sexual Ethic.”

Featured
Joanne Rodríguez

Rev. Dr. Joanne Rodríguez is Executive Director of the Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI) and an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church USA. Since 1999, Rev. Dr. Rodríguez has collaborated with students, faculty, deans, presidents, and directors of non-profit educational programs to ensure that HTI doctoral students graduate as influential leaders in theological and religious education and the broader educational landscape. She holds an honorary doctorate from the Iliff School of Theology, where she served as the Commencement Speaker for the class of 2024. She also earned ThM and MDiv degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and a BA from Pace University. The Association of Theological Schools (ATS) recognized her contributions with a 2024 Women in Leadership Trailblazer Award. Additionally, Rev. Dr. Rodríguez is a teaching elder at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Trenton, New Jersey.

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