The Global en lo Cotidiano

Loida I. Martell-Otero

One of the characteristics of US Latina theology is its understanding of the importance of lo cotidiano—the spaces of the everyday—for theological reflection. It is in such spaces that one sees both the evidence of sin as well as the experience of grace come full circle. My last blog was meant to demonstrate how I do Christology from the spaces of lo cotidiano. I wanted to demonstrate an evangélica theological locus and method that I believe I model in the classroom. In that sense, that reflection was very much related to the question of pedagogy. Here I seek to explore explicitly the relationship between lo cotidiano and transnational pedagogy.

One of Palmer Theological Seminary’s faculty members, Dr. Al Tizon, links the global with the local by using the term “glocal.” I believe that we make a grave mistake to think that transnational or global only occurs “out there.” The erasure of fixed borders, the economic collapse that has taken place in so many geographical spaces, military incursions, colonialism, and neocolonialism, together with the immigration laws of this country that have more to do with xenophobia and economic greed than with legal concerns have led to the formation of islands of the “global” in our local communities.

We have whole communities of people who live in the USA, often without documentations required by federal immigration laws, in fear of being violently deported. They do not speak English well or at all, nor interact fluidly with US-dominant cultures. They tend to form isolated havens where they maintain their linguistic, cultural, religious, and social traditions. Their children live in porous spaces—seamlessly crossing the borders between their parents’ territory and that of the US location they now call home. These are the new “glocal” communities.

Many of them are not pastored by clergy from our Christian churches because seminaries are too busy preparing ministerial leaders under the old paradigms of either/or: either they serve in the US or they serve overseas as “missionaries.” Theological education needs to begin to pay attention to what is happening in lo cotidiano and realize that there are new paradigms to which it must respond. How can we better prepare our seminary students to become transnational leaders who can effectively care for the international communities that reside in our midst as well as overseas?

Lo cotidiano makes me aware of another aspect of global pedagogy. It is one that cannot take place simply as part of a curriculum that is attentive to the lesson plan of a given professor in a given classroom space. Such an approach can isolate the “global” into a reified and isolated space, reducing it to an “issue” that takes place among a laundry list of other “issues,” such as racism and poverty. It can be an overwhelming experience that leaves students feeling powerless.

By the time they graduate, many of these students, while conscious of the issues, feel ultimately that they can do very little that is effective. It is akin to their experience of learning about the Trinity—a formula they repeat, but not something that they believe ultimately transforms their lives or their ministerial praxis. It seems to me that to be effective, a pedagogical approach that engages a global and transnational world must be more than a class, or a book list, or even just a “mission trip.” It must be all of these, and more. It must engage students at the level of lo cotidiano. The whole of their seminary journey must be permeated with awareness of global realities, much as we have made students aware of inclusive language: it must be done in a way that changes not just how they think about the global and the local, but how they live this out in the very fabric of their lives.

Such a pedagogical approach cannot be the purview of solely one interested faculty member. It must be part of the commitment of the whole institution; it must be in the institution’s DNA! Palmer’s motto has been “the whole gospel for the whole world for whole persons.” The “whole world” part of our motto has made the global part of our DNA. Students are made aware of global issues not just in the classroom, but also in chapel worship services, through special events that include sharing of meals, in mission trips, and in special faculty presentations. A number of our faculty are from international communities, and keep us abreast of particular events from their countries. Our international students are also an important part of our community whose conversations in our common dining area make “the global” part of our daily lexicon/ nuestro hablar diario in lo cotidiano.

These then reinforce the shape of the overall curriculum along with specific courses focused on global and contextual theologies. Some entail trips—thus far to Nigeria, Israel, Palestine, Central and South America—while others use film and documentaries. Students who enter Palmer often graduate acutely aware of global concerns, and how those global concerns impact the local and vice versa. A few have changed their concentration tracks or upon graduation, adjusting their vocational goals to align with these global concerns. As I watch my colleagues and hear our students, I am grateful that I have learned from them as much as, or perhaps more, than I have taught. I realize once again how much wisdom there is when one pays attention to the spaces of lo cotidiano. It is in those spaces that I have learned to reflect not only upon Christology, but also to be acutely aware of the global in the midst of our local communities.

* Professor Loida I. Martell-Otero is Professor of Constructive Theology at Palmer Theological Seminary, the Seminary of Eastern University at Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and is coeditor of Teologia en Conjunto: A Collaborative Hispanic Protestant Theology with José D. Rodriguez.