Roberto Che Espinoza

Consulting Faculty

Roberto Che Espinoza, Ph.D. has been described in a myriad of ways: a scholar-activist, scholar-leader, thought-leader, teacher, public theologian, ethicist, poet of moral reason, and word artist. Among these ways of describing Dr. Espinoza, they are also a visionary thinker who has spent two decades working in the borderlands of church, academy, and movements seeking to not only disrupt but dismantle supremacy culture by focusing his Ph.D. studies on new concepts of being and becoming, decolonizing knowledge production, and bridging with radical difference. They enflesh a deep hope of collaborating in these borderland spaces where their work seeks to contribute to the ongoing work of collective liberation. Dr. Espinoza is the founder of the Activist Theology Project, a Nashville-based collaborative project that seeks to work with the dominant culture and produces curriculum at the intersection of scholarship and activism. Activist theology as a disciplinary off-shoot of liberation theology and movement has been incubating since 2008 with Dr. Espinoza and further developed throughout their doctoral program and engagement with movement leaders.  Dr. Espinoza was named one of 10 Faith Leaders to Watch by the Center for American Progress in 2018.  As a scholar-activist, Dr. Espinoza is committed to translating theory to action, so that our work in the borderlands reflect the deep spiritual work of transforming self to transforming the world. Dr. Espinoza writes and creates both academic and other valuable resources, including digital resources. Dr. Espinoza is a non-binary transqueer Latinx who calls Nashville, Tenn. home. He is the author of Activist Theology, 2019, published by Fortress Press and the forthcoming book Becoming Bodied.