Socorro Castañeda-Liles, Ph.D.
- Religious Studies Department, 300E Kenna Hall
- 1-408-551-3181
Socorro Castañeda-Liles, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in Religious Studies at Santa Clara University. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research, writing, and teaching interests include Sociology of Religion, Catholic Studies, Lived Religion Studies, Chicanx/Latinx Sociology; Ethnographic Methods, Feminist Studies, and the interlocking of Race, Class, Gender, Religion, & Sexuality.
Her book “Our Lady of Everyday Life: Contextualizing Narratives on Everyday Faith, Devotion, and Existence Across Generations of U.S. Mexican Women (Oxford University Press, forthcoming) is a sociological analysis of the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe among Mexican origin women. Her current research project “Young Latinas and their lived religion: family expectations, romance, and college life” is a national mixed method study. With a focus on first, second, and third generation U.S. born Latinas, it examines the ways young women negotiate traditional family expectations, their spirituality, and college culture.
Her second book project, Portraits of the Dream: The Importance of Investing in Undocumented America is a co-edited volume with Josef Castañeda-Liles, Ph.D.. This book will feature the narratives of professionals, artists, academics, and activists who were either formerly undocumented or are currently undocumented and have been public about their status.
Her research has been funded by the Ford Foundation, The Louisville Institute, Hispanic Theological Initiative, UC Mexus (University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States), Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, and The Ignatian Institute for Jesuit Education. Her work been featured in local and national newspapers including the San Jose Mercury News and the National Catholic Reporter.