Presented by: Michi & Walter Weglyn: Endowed Chair of Multicultural Studies

Event: Book Talk on Falling in Love with Nature: The Values of Latinx Catholic Environmentalism (NYU Press)

Author: Dr. Amanda J. Baugh, Professor and Associate Chair, Religious Studies Department, CSUN

Moderator: Dr. Álvaro Huerta, Cal Poly Pomona

Date: Tuesday, March 18, 2024

Location: University Library, Third Floor Reading Room, Cal Poly Pomona

Bio line: Amanda J. Baugh is a scholar of the environmental humanities working at the intersection of religion, race, and environmental justice. She is a Professor and the Associate Chair of Religious Studies and Director of the MA Program in Sustainability at California State University, Northridge (CSUN).

About the author: https://www.amandajbaugh.com/ 

Bio:

Amanda J. Baugh is a scholar of the environmental humanities working at the intersection of religion, race, and environmental justice. She is a Professor and the Associate Chair of Religious Studies and Director of the MA Program in Sustainability at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). Dr. Baugh earned her Ph.D. in American Religions from Northwestern University. Her first book, God and the Green Divide: Religious Environmentalism in Black and White examines how assumptions about race, ethnicity, and class have shaped the "greening" of American religion. 

In her most recent book, Falling in Love With Nature: The Values of Latinx Catholic Environmentalism, Baugh tells the story of American environmentalism through a focus on Spanish-speaking Catholics, shedding light on environmental actors who have been hidden in plain sight. While dominant narratives about environmental activism include minorities, primarily in the realm of environmental racism and injustice, Baugh demonstrates that minority communities are not merely victims of environmental problems. They can be active agents who express love for nature based on inherited family traditions and close relationships with the land. 

Baugh is a National Research Fellow with the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at IUPUI. Her work has been supported by fellowships American Council of Learned Societies and the National Endowment for the Humanities.