Theresa Torres

Dr. Theresa L. Torres, a second-generation Mexican American, is Associate Professor of Sociology and Race, Ethnic and Gender Studies (REGS) in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). Her areas of expertise are Latinx Studies (in the United States, particularly Kansas City), Gender Studies, Immigration Studies, Ethnic Studies, Religious Studies, and Anthropology. Using ethnographic field studies, her current research is on the impact of religion and spirituality in the lives of Latina Leaders and the role of Latinas in religious and civic organizations. She holds a BA in Secondary Education from Benedictine College; an MA in Pastoral Studies in Mexican American Culture and Theology from Boston College; and a PhD in Religious Studies, Theology, and cognate in Anthropology and Latino Studies from Catholic University. Dr. Torres is the author of The Paradox of Latina Religious Leadership in the Catholic Church: Las Guadalupanas of Kansas City (Palgrave MacMillan, 2013), a book on Latina spirituality and resilience based on interviews of Latina leaders.