Professor Jacqueline M. Hidalgo Named Recipient of Louisville Institute Grant for Researchers

Professor of Theology and Religious Studies Jacqueline M. Hidalgo, PhD, has been selected as one of only 25 scholars to receive a 2026–27 Louisville Institute Grant for Researchers.

The Louisville Institute’s Grant for Researchers enables ecclesially-engaged academics and scholarly religious leaders to conduct a major study that can contribute to the vitality of Christianity in North America. Louisville Institute is funded through the generous support of Lilly Endowment Inc. and based at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Louisville, Kentucky). The Institute’s mission is to enrich the religious life of North American Christians for the flourishing of the Church, by bringing together those who lead religious institutions with those who study them, so that the work of each might inform and strengthen the other.

The Grant for Researchers offers awards of up to $55,000 for scholars and Hidalgo’s project was chosen from a highly competitive pool of applicants. Her project, "Children of the Apocalypse," examines how the U.S. Latine literary and activist traditions reimagine biblical apocalyptic texts in order to confront environmental catastrophe, colonial legacies and epistemic violence. Drawing on Puerto Rican and ethnic Mexican cultural production, the project pairs canonical and non-canonical apocalyptic writings with Latine responses to ecological crises.

"I am so excited to receive this support from the Louisville Institute because it affirms the value of Latine environmental concerns and stories in relationship to the study of biblical traditions," says Hidalgo.

Rather than viewing apocalypse as a future event, Hidalgo's research highlights how many Latine thinkers describe apocalypse as an ongoing condition rooted in conquest, displacement and extractive capitalism. By foregrounding motifs such as "el grito," a sonic expression of lament and resistance, as well as Yomaira Figueroa-Vásquez’s concept of "apocalypso," the project shows how Latine communities reinterpret apocalyptic traditions as frameworks for survivance, relational knowledge and decolonial transformation.

Hidalgo looks forward to diving deep into the project. "This grant makes a world of difference for my research," she says. "It frees me up to focus resources on my research for a year, and it connects me to a group of scholars who are exciting intellectual conversation partners."

Congratulations, Dr. Hidalgo!