معرفی
Chaplain Kelly Figueroa-Ray serves as University Chaplain and Director of the Wesley Center at Hamline University, overseeing religious and spiritual life while directing the Wesley Center Department for Spirituality, Service, and Social Justice. She holds affiliate faculty status in the Department of Social Justice and Social Change where she teaches specialized courses on religion, politics, and racial reconciliation.
Her academic credentials include:
- Ph.D. in Religious Studies (2018) and M.A. (2015) from University of Virginia
- M.Div. cum laude (2004) from Wesley Theological Seminary
- B.A. in International Area Studies (1999) from University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Figueroa-Ray's research critically examines intersections of faith traditions with social justice movements, specializing in scriptural reasoning as a tool for racial reconciliation and community development. Her work challenges hegemonic cultural structures through theological frameworks of disruptive love and insurgent multiculturalism, with particular focus on water justice narratives and interfaith dialogue methodologies.
Her publication trajectory reveals evolving scholarly focus from community development applications (2013) to sophisticated analyses of scriptural interpretation across religious traditions (2018), culminating in groundbreaking work on love as resistance against white supremacy (2020). This progression demonstrates increasing theoretical complexity in examining how religious narratives can dismantle oppressive systems.
As University Chaplain, she leads Hamline's spiritual life initiatives through the Wesley Center, creating programming that integrates service learning with social justice advocacy. Her leadership establishes campus spaces for interfaith engagement and community action rooted in theological reflection on contemporary justice issues.
