April 2016

BERKELEY, CA, Apr. 27, 2016 – Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University (JST-SCU) an international college for the study of theology, on Tuesday, May 3 at 7 p.m., will host Karen Buckenham and Emmanuel Serafica de Guzman to discuss their research on the migration patterns of South Africa and intercultural theological ethics in South East Asia.  Their projects were sponsored by an anonymous donor who wishes to promote the research of international scholars through a year of support at the Jesuit School of Theology. 

Buckenham’s research and writing is from the context of Southern Africa. She refers to both global migration and South-South migration, especially recent xenophobic violence in South Africa. Visualizing forced migration as humanity’s body groaning in pain, she reflects on a new imagination of migration, on the life, gift, dignity and creativity inherent in it; carried within those who migrate, involving those who receive migrants, and which has the potential to change the ways our interconnected humanity relates in these times.

Reflecting the fact that human migration across the globe transcends religion and politics, De Guzman’s research is focused on Southeast Asia which is undergoing global and regional economic integration under the auspices of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations, consisting of Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines). In a region where there is multiplicity of economic and political models, and richly hued by plural and diverse cultural and religious traditions, de Guzman’s research on interculturality asks: What new vision of life and ethics, theologies of church and ministry, religious rituals and practices can come about in the encounter of two or more cultures toward a more humane and just world? Amid a competitive capitalist economy, what does Catholic “praxis” mean in the context of different identities and communities who are struggling for their places in one space?

Recently back from a “research on the ground” in Myanmar, Cambodia, and the Philippines, de Guzman treats the questions arising from the ASEAN economic integration along ecclesiology, theological anthropology, and virtue ethics in conversations with Southeast Asian cultural virtues.

About the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University
The Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, located in Berkeley, California, is a preeminent international center for the culturally contextualized study of theology. Its mission is to inspire and prepare men and women to become leaders in the Church, academy, and society, serving others through a faith that does justice. Rooted in Ignatian spirituality, JST educates and trains Jesuits, religious, ordained, and lay students from across the United States and from 40 other countries for lives dedicated to ministry and scholarship.

Media Contacts
Steve Padilla   | JST  | sjpadilla@scu.edu | 707.330.6559 
Deborah Lohse | SCU Media Relations | dlohse@scu.edu | 408-554-5121