University of Illinois Chicago
Candidate for Vice President (2025)/President (2026)
Candidate statement
Like similar scholarly organizations, the ACHA advances through adaptation and anticipation: adjusting to shifts in the larger academic landscape and finding ways to support future generations of historians. During my time as a member, which has included service on the Executive Council, the Finance Committee, and two terms on the J.T. Ellis Dissertation Award committee, I have seen the ACHA create ways to extend the geographical boundaries of our common subject matter (note the exciting work in Latin American and Global Catholicism) and support research in previously-ignored aspects of religious life and culture, such as the webinar series of “ACHA around the Movies.”
During this same time we have also supported graduate students and early-career scholars, as well as those working outside the tenure-system ranks that had been the dominant demographic of disciplinary organizations. For a growing share of our membership the ACHA is a scholarly home, supporting new work (through the Summer Research and Travel Grants, for example) and providing a forum (through the Presidential Travel Grants) for sharing it. ACHA is dedicated to supporting historical research in Catholicism by all who are engaged in the work.
We are fortunate in having an engaged membership with the will and flexibility not just to adjust to the changes that are affecting humanists and the societies that support their work, but to work together to continue to be a supportive network for the next generation of historians. As a professor of Catholic Studies at a Hispanic-Serving Institution, I’ll consider it a privilege to continue my predecessors’ efforts to serve our colleagues and our discipline in the most constructive ways.