Jeffery Gonzalez

Jeffery Gonzalez is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Religious Studies at Florida International University (FIU). His research and teaching focus on African and African Diasporic Religions, particularly in Cuba, Brazil, Nigeria, and the Caribbean, emphasizing how religious traditions adapt to new cultural environments and the role of women in these practices. He holds a Ph.D. in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of Reading.

His interdisciplinary theoretical framework incorporates scholars like Pierre Bourdieu (capital theory), Anthony Giddens (reflexivity), and Fernando Ortiz (transculturation). His fieldwork in Nigeria examines the evolution of Yoruba orisha traditions and the impact of technology on diasporic community connectivity.

Publications include a chapter in Indigenous and African Diaspora Religions in the Americas (2023), exploring how diasporic religious practices shape identity and social dynamics.