Jan. 19, 2016
Carlos M.N. Eire, a Yale University professor and National Book Award winner, will talk about how his experiences as a Cuban-American contribute to his faith on Monday, January 25.
His talk, titled "The Blessings and Perils of Being 'Hispanic' in the United States," is this year's Hispanic Innovators of the Faith Lecture. This will be the fourth year of the lecture series hosted by the School of Theology and Religious Studies.
Eire is currently a professor of history and religious studies at Yale University, where he specializes in religious, cultural, and intellectual history of late medieval and early modern Europe.
He attributes his draw to religion and call to teaching to the 15th century book Imitation of Christ , which was given to him by his parents as he fled Cuba in 1962. He has since pursued a career in education, with a focus on religious history.
Eire has written seven books, two of which are memoirs. His first memoir, Waiting for Snow in Havana , details his childhood in Cuba and life as a refugee in the United States. The book earned him the National Book Award for non-fiction in 2003. His most recent memoir, Learning to Die in Miami , was written in 2010 and explores his exile experience.
Eire previously served as president of the Society for Reformation Research and was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He also received the Fulbright Fellowship in 1984.
David Lantigua, assistant professor of moral theology, said, "Students of all cultural backgrounds can share with him the universal and transcendent themes of migration and pilgrimage as God's people on a spiritual journey throughout life. He is also a dynamic lecturer so they will be drawn to his rich way of storytelling through liveliness and feeling."
The event will be held in Caldwell Auditorium at noon on Monday, Jan. 25. The event is open to the public and refreshments will be served.