19th January: CSWC PhD Students presentations
Nuam Hatzaw “...no place to lay their head”: Towards a Trauma-Informed Theology of Migration for the 1.5 Generation
Theologies of migration have yet to fully examine the experiences and stories of the “1.5 generation”– those who were born in their home countries but migrated elsewhere while still young. Retaining memories and attachment to the place of their birth, while also forming new and equally salient ties to the country in which they now live, many 1.5 generation migrants express feeling lost and displaced, unable to comfortably call either location ‘home’. Such destabilising sentiments are only further intensified during times of heightened political and social tension. Using auto-ethnography – specifically, the Asian experience in Britain – along with insights from trauma theory, this paper attempts to put forward a theology of migration that addresses the experiences and needs of 1.5 generation migrants.
Matt Reis, The Evangelicalization of Brazilian Christianity in South Florida and the Problem of the Undocumented Status of Many Evangélicos
The landscape of Brazilian Christianity in South Florida is very different from that of Brazil. While Roman Catholic adherence is still the leading form of Christianity in Brazil at 70% of the population, the opposite is true in South Florida, where Catholic parishes are few and far between, and the needs of Brazilian migrants are met primarily by evangelical churches. This different dynamic between Brazilian evangelical and Catholic churches fosters new relationships that are evident between the two parties in the diaspora in South Florida. Evangélicos are also faced with the issue of undocumented migration, a challenge exclusive to the diaspora, and the many difficulties brought on by a lack of residency status. This paper will explore the Evangelicalization of Brazilian Christianity in South Florida, and the moral issue of how Brazilian evangelical pastors have negotiated the problem of the undocumented status of many of their congregants.