History

I look at my life and realize how incredible it is to find myself at the GTU in Berkeley. I am an American citizen, born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, but my abuelita (grandmother) is quick to remind me, “Mexican comes before American.  You are Mexican-American and do not forget it.”

The weight of her words did not hit me until I began the doctoral program.  The Bay Area’s wealth of diverse cultures and peoples of various ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds drew me to the GTU.  I am not ashamed of my ethnic heritage, but I resist being reduced...

When it comes to horror films, a dash of holy water, a priest waving a cross, and some unintelligible Latin usually provide enough legitimacy to make the most demonic possessions believable to the general population. But when brothers Chad and Carey Hayes set to writing their most recent screenplay, they wanted an accurate portrayal more than dramatic. Diana Walsh-Pasulka (M.A. ’99) provided the expertise they needed for incorporating the Old Roman Rite of exorcism preferred by Ed and Lorraine Warren, the couple who famously investigated the Amityville Horror and the real life inspiration...

Kevin White, a Ph.D. Candidate in History and a Protestant, puts the election of Pope Francis into a larger historical context in a recent post at MereOrthodoxy.com.

This new Pope Francis is already an unexpected sort of pope.

It is, of course, too early to declare a definitive take on Pope Francis’ reign. ... By looking at who he is, the name he took, and the first impression he gave, we can already see much that is significant. So far, the theme of his election seems to be “novelty following precedent.’

Francis...