
The Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism brings together scholars from history, theology, women’s studies, sociology, religious studies, American studies, and English to interpret the American Catholic experience.
Through a variety of research projects, seminars, conferences, and publications, Cushwa serves as the leading center for the historical study of Roman Catholicism in the United States. The center also collaborates with church leaders and pastoral workers to enhance the vitality of Catholic life in the United States. Read More
Cummings to be Cushwa director
Lived History of Vatican II project
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Latina Women of Spirit
Felicia Moralez
In 1947 Ascensión Higuera and her family entered the United States on a bus, stopping at San Diego to pass through customs. Higuera was born near El Centro, California in 1931. After several years of struggling to make ends meet during the Depression, her father had taken her family back to Mexico to live with his relatives. During the bus ride back to California after World War II, Higuera’s parents repeatedly reminded her that she was a U.S. citizen: “When we’d come back my parents always told us…‘Don’t forget you are American citizens.’ ” When an immigration officer boarded the bus, he expressed his doubts about her status: “And then the officer dropped my birth certificate. And I never forgot what courage I had. He said ‘Pick up the certificate.’ I said, ‘No. You dropped it, you pick it up.’
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