César "CJ" Baldelomar

A scholar with wide-ranging interests, Dr. César "CJ" Baldelomar is Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Saint Mary's College of California (Moraga, CA), where he teaches courses on Christian Foundations, Colonialism, Race, and Religion, and Latinx Religious Experience and Theology. Previously, CJ was Visiting Lecturer in Religion at Mount Holyoke College and part-time faculty at Boston College, where he earned his doctorate in Theology and Education. He was a Boston College Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Fellow and defended his dissertation with distinction. 

 

CJ's research and writing blends critical theory (especially postmodernism, poststructuralism, and critical legal studies), decolonial thought, and neglected scenes of Christian theology to explore various ways to imagine and talk about the self or selves, desire, “justice,” and relationality to other lifeforms and the ecosphere. He has presented at numerous conferences, retreats, and workshops across the United States and around the world on topics ranging from environmental migration to best practices of learning and teaching (especially in theological education) to cosmologies and identities. He is working on two book projects, including one for the New Horizons in Hispanic Catholic Theology series from Convivium Press. CJ is also a regular contributor to Commonweal Magazine and other popular outlets.  

 

He is a former legal intern at the Southern Poverty Law Center, Associate Member Representative of The Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS), and Spirituality and Sustainability Global Network board member. CJ currently serves as Book Review Editor for the academic journal Religious Education. 

 

Areas of Expertise 
 

Religion and the environment, decolonial thought, immigration and borders, reimagining international law, religion in the public sphere, religious literacy, theological anthropology, theological and religious education and pedagogies, and queer theologies