The 2020 Latin American Conference was online December 1 - 3, 2020, coordinated from San José, Costa Rica.
The theme was “Renewed Christian University Semper Reformanda Est : Higher Education, Christian Identity, and Public Impact in Latin America”
Click here for schedule and panel descriptions.
The proceedings of the conference were published into a Spanish language book in 2022. For purchasing options, click here.
The scholarship was translated to English and compiled in the Journal of Latin American Theology Volume 17:1. For purchasing options, click here.
English description
(translated from publisher page): This volume is the product of the Seventh Latin American Consultation promoted by the International Network of Christian Higher Education (RIESC), co-sponsored by the Community for Interdisciplinary Theological Studies (CETI) and the Latin American Theological Fraternity (FTL), which took place in the context of and as part of the year-long celebration of the FTL's 50th anniversary. With the general theme of Higher Education, Christian Identity, and Public Advocacy in Latin America , the consultation was held virtually from December 1 to 3, 2020, with the city of San José, Costa Rica, as its administrative center. Nearly one hundred people from more than 20 nations participated, mainly from Latin America and the Hispanic Caribbean, but also some from the United States, Europe (the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands), and Oceania (Australia).
The papers published here address substantive issues concerning Christian Higher Education (CHE) in Latin America, such as an overview of its current situation and the challenges it faces in its essential functions of teaching, research, and social outreach. Emphasis is placed on the importance of national and international interuniversity cooperation, as well as the critical role of the student body. A dedicated section on specific challenges in important disciplinary fields is included, preceded by a cutting-edge experience bridging the gap between theological and interdisciplinary. The final document of the consultation is presented, summarizing its contributions in thought and suggesting priority action guidelines for the decade. Digital links are provided to audiovisual material from each day's sessions, allowing users to listen to all the presentations, including the questions and final comments from the audience.
Journal of Latin American Theology
Volume 17:1
(from the publisher) This issue of the Journal of Latin American Theology presents some of the papers given at the Seventh Latin American Conference of the Red Internacional de Educacion Superior Cristiana (RIESC). Designed around the theme "Higher Education, Christian Identity, and Public Impact in Latin America," the authors herein explore the challenges and the people involved in the three primary tasks of a university: teaching, research, and community engagement through university extension projects. Alberto Salom Echevarria's keynote address lays out the seven primary challenges that secular and faith-based universities alike are facing. The three articles that follow feature concrete examples of successfully facing some of the challenges. These are by Joel Aguilar and Ruth Padilla DeBorst with CETI; Alejandra Ortiz and Josue Olmedo with IFES; and Humberto Shikiya and Milton Mejia with Qonakuy. In the next four articles, professors in different fi elds interact with the RIESC conference theme from within their specific disciplines. This includes Adelaida Jimenez in educational sciences; Jose Alcantara Mejia in literature and the arts; Arturo Gonzalez-Gutierrez in engineering; and Ingrid Beatriz Martell in health sciences. After the final statement from the conference, book reviews by Sidney Rooy and Arturo Gonzalez-Gutierrez continue the theme of Christian higher education. A film review by Samuel Lagunas explores the worldview of a Protestant evangelical indigenous woman, and two poems close this volume with reflections on God's work as the Divine Educator and as the tender Creator of woman.