This webinar critically examined how Christians across the globe are responding to the enduring legacies and current realities of American empire. From military intervention to economic coercion and cultural dominance, U.S. influence continues to shape lives far beyond its borders. This conversation engaged theological, political, and grassroots responses to empire—highlighting resistance, solidarity, and alternative visions rooted in Christian witness.
This event has now passed. You can watch the recording below.
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Dr. Kwok Pui Lan
Dr. Kwok Pui Lan is an internationally recognized theologian in postcolonial theology and Asian and Asian American feminist theology, currently serving as EDS' Distinguished Scholar.
Dr. Kwok has shaped a generation of theological scholarship and formed countless students. Most recently, she was Dean’s Professor of Systematic Theology at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, and a past president of the American Academy of Religion. Before that, she was William F. Cole Professor of Christian Theology and Spirituality at EDS, where she taught for twenty-five years.
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Dr. Carlos Mendoza-Álvarez, OP
Mexico
Dr. Carlos Mendoza-Álvarez, OP, has taught and conducted research at the Pontifical University of Mexico, the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, and Boston College. His theological vision integrates Phenomenology of Subjectivity, Mimetic Theory, and Decolonial Thought into a philosophical theology in active dialogue with social movements across the Epistemic South. He is the author of eight books and many book chapters and articles. His notable works include a trilogy on the idea of revelation—Deus Liberans, Deus absconditus, and Deus ineffabilis, as well as his most recent book, The Resurrection as Messianic Insurrection: Grieving, Memory, and Hope from the Survivors’ Perspective. His work bridges theology, activism, and the arts through international gatherings such as Resiste (Mexico City, 2019), Re-existing! The Spirit Crossing Peripheries (Guadalajara, 2023), and the upcoming Re-existing! Intercultural Encounter: The Spirit Connecting Peripheries at ITESO in Guadalajara (September 2025).
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The Rev. Dr. Keunjoo Christine Pae
South Korea/U.S.A.
The Rev. Dr. Keunjoo Christine Pae is Professor of Religion/Ethics and Women’s and Gender Studies andChair of the Religion Department at Denison University in Ohio. She is also an Episcopal priest canonically resident in the Diocese of Newark. Trained as a social ethicist, Pae teaches and researches ethics of peace and war, transnational feminist ethics, spiritual activism, feminist theologies, and U.S. military prostitution industries in Asia. She is the author of A Transpacific Imagination of Theology, Ethics, and Spiritual Activism: Doing Feminist Ethics Transnationally and the coeditor of Embodying Antiracist Christianity: Asian/American Theological Resources for Just Racial Relations and Searching for the Future in the Past: Reclaiming Feminist Theological Visions.
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Dr. Miranda Pillay
South Africa
Dr. Miranda Pillay, Extraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape, is a Senior Researcher at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice. Her work is interdisciplinary, drawing from the fields of biblical studies, women’s and gender studies and theology. Theoretically her work is grounded within critical African feminist scholarship which foregrounds the intersectionality of the privilege/oppression dialect.
Shaped by the work of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, Pillay’s research, advocacy and activism focus on identifying the dynamics of gender power-relations, particularly as it impacts the lived-reality of women. She investigates how hierarchies of power, justified by tradition and religion serve to defend and reinscribe heteronormativity, patriarchy, and paternalism as “holy hierarchies” to uphold supremacism.
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Dr. Mark Lewis Taylor
U.S.A.
Dr. Mark Lewis Taylor is a Professor of Theology and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary. His research and teaching focus on critical theories for a “political theology of liberation.” He teaches courses on white racism and hegemonic masculinism as theological challenges, empire and capital in theological perspective, cultural-political hermeneutics, and the theologies of Paul Tillich and Gustavo Gutiérrez.” His three most recent books are The Executed God: The Way of the Cross in Lockdown America; The Theological and the Political; and Religion, Politics and the Christian Right: Post-911 Powers and American Empire. His most recent essay on Palestine is from December 2023 and appeared at Counterpunch and Jacobin (see NACLA for Spanish and English versions).