Visiting Instructor, Religious Studies
B.A., University of California San Diego; M.A., University of California Riverside; Ph.D., University of California Riverside (in progress)
Appointed In
2022
Office
Fowler 414
Hours
Mondays (5:30-6:30 PM) and Wednesdays (3:00-4:00 PM)
Areas of specialization: religious history of the modern Americas; liberation theory and praxis
Professor Diaz teaches courses on religion, race, and gender in the modern United States and Latin America.
Her current research focuses on muscular Christianity, a unique form of evangelical Christianity that emphasized the muscular male body near the end of the long nineteenth century, and its role during new imperialism. By examining muscular Christian discourse involving bodily practice and affect, she asserts that muscular Christianity cannot be easily classified within a binary of imperialism and resistance. Rather, the social movement existed as a complex site of hegemonic power and attempted liberations from such power.