Networking

An important strategy for the development of Latino/a scholars continues to be community-building and support. Community-building strategies are aimed at meeting the needs of the most consistent findings of the field. A sense of isolation, marginalization, and lack of a supportive environment mainly generate these needs. Fellows in the doctoral program are encouraged to form networks with each other, as well as to form networks with established Latina/o religious leaders and scholars. HTI has used several means to make networking possible. Among the most important are:

Summer Workshop

This is an annual event meant to bring together HTI renewal and new awardees at all levels. It also brings together the doctoral mentors, Selection Committee members, and persons on the Advisory Committee who may want to attend. All current HTI awardees will be required to attend, at HTI's expense, the workshop held the summer after they are selected as fellows (before beginning their graduate programs) and are welcome to attend in subsequent years after they complete their programs at their own expense. Experts in writing dissertations, writing for publication, teaching, career management, and in other concerns pertaining to academe will be brought in as consultants.

Networking Funds

These funds provide the awardees the means to travel to meet with religious leaders and scholars who might not otherwise be accessible to them. Networking funds will continue to be budgeted for each fellow. This will include $1,000 per year for the doctoral and dissertation fellows. A portion of the networking monies underwrites subscriptions to Apuntes and The Journal of Hispanic/Latino Theology and fees toward membership in the Asociación para la Educación Teológica Hispana (AETH) or the Association of Catholic Hispanic Theologians in the United States (ACHTUS).