LALS Major Julian Feinberg receives Honors College Capstone Innovation Award at UIC’s Undergraduate Research Forum!
LALS Major Julian Feinberg receives Honors College Capstone Innovation Award at UIC's Undergraduate Research Forum!
Congratulations to Julian! His research project, entitled From the Young Lords to Latino Evangelicals, was supervised by Prof. Lilia Fernández (History and LALS affiliate). You can read the abstract below and find out more about this year’s UIC Undergraduate Research Forum here.
Abstract: From the Young Lords to Latino Evangelicals
“This project explores how and why we got here in the Trump era. Our research question is to what degree contemporary Latino evangelicalism is part of an evolutionary continuum, or a dramatic break from the past. Although the Young Lords and modern Latino Evangelicals differ from one another, both groups have attempted to extend their faith from the confines of the church into the political arena. Beginning in the 1960s, the religious activity of several Latino communities can best be described as liberal political activism. The Young Lords and other radical youth movements demonstrated their deep awareness of the transformative power of sacred space to meet the urgent needs of people in the here and now. In a sense, these young activists envisioned a religiousness that was inseparable from social and political transformation. It was not until the Trump election of 2016 that Latino Evangelicals entered the political arena as a collective force. The bridge to full-fledged identification with the MAGA movement and Christian Nationalism was easy to cross. Why do so many people adhere to a movement that considers them second-class citizens? One answer to these questions might be found in the charismatic personalities of Evangelical pastors and the attraction that Latinos feel for them. A key factor lies in our colonial past. In a sense, for Latinos, Christian Nationalism is not a 21st Century phenomenon. The legacy of conquest and religious subjugation lives on in the present. Ultimately, this project considers pathways for the future of the community.”