Short Bio
M.A. in Religion, Fordham University, New York. Thesis: “An Approach to Spiritual Direction in a Multicultural Setting”
D.Min./Th.D. Oxford University (through Graduate Theological Foundation). D.Min. Project in Biblical Ministry: “A Re-reading of Five Women’s Stories in the Early Church from an Asian Perspective.” Th.D. dissertation: “Towards a Contemporary Approach to the Study of Catholic Consecrated Life Beyond the Three Evangelical Counsels”
Certificate in Biblical Spirituality, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL.
Visiting Academic at the Faculty of Religious Studies from 2015-present
Teaching the following Subjects:
Aesthetic Theology
Theological Anthropology
Portfolio
Philosophy in Literature and Cinema
English V, VI - Theological English
Introduction to Christianity
Publications
Gallares, J. (2024). Encountering “the other”: Seeking New Ways of Living Interculturality. Religious Life Asia. XXVI (2), 25-48.
Gallares, J. (2023) Paradigms of Missionary Spirituality Today. In A. Pernia and A. Le Duc (Eds.), Gifted to Give: Proceedings of the International Missiology Symposium (pp. 239-256). Logos Publications & Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
Gallares, J. (2022). Religious Vows in their Mystic and Prophetic Dimensions. Religious Life Asia, XXIV(2), 65-84.
Gallares, J. (2021). Forming Intercultural Missionaries. In L. T. Stanislaus & C. Tauchner (Eds.), Becoming Intercultural: Perspectives on Mission (pp. 187-205). Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (ISPCK).
Gallares, J. (2020). Interculturality and Formation. In M. Cimperman & R,. Schroader, Engaging our Diversity: Interculturality and Consecrated Life Today (pp. 199-208). Orbis Books.
Modules
Year 2 Bachelor
This course is a basic introduction to the systems of beliefs, rituals and practices of the Christian community, with a focus on the varieties of scriptural interpretation, historical experience, doctrine, and behavior. A primary goal will be to attempt to understand each tradition from the point of view of those who are a part of that expression of Christianity.
Alternative Description:
Who are the Christians? What and how do they believe? What is theology? Those questions are the guidelines of this introduction to Christianity. The students must be able to identify the different Christian traditions and how they emerged through time and affirmed in different geographical spaces. In a second moment, they must realize how practices and doctrines influence each other as well as they shape identities. It is in the interweave of doctrines and practices that theology emerges.
Alternative Description:
This course is a basic introduction to the systems of beliefs, rituals and practices of the Christian community, with a focus on the varieties of scriptural interpretation, historical experience, doctrine, and behavior. A primary goal will be to attempt to understand each tradition from the point of view of those who are a part of that expression of Christianity.
Alternative Description:
An introduction to the history, central themes and practices of the three main branches of Christianity: Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism. Themes that will be explored include the formation and structure of the Holy Bible, the relationship between the Christian Bible and doctrine, the person of Jesus, the development and spreading of Christianity, Christianity as a world religion, and the relationship between Christianity and colonialism.Year 3 Bachelor
This course will discuss the relationship between liturgical theology and the various art forms which shape the larger context of the liturgical act (specifically music, dramatic elements, poetry, visual arts), and the ways in which various aesthetic theories and artistic making have affected (and have potential to affect) our understanding of Christian worship and theology. Special emphasis will be placed on experiences in China.
Alternative Description:
This course will discuss the relationship between liturgical theology and the various art forms which shape the larger context of the liturgical act (specifically music, dramatic elements, poetry, visual arts), and the ways in which various aesthetic theories and artistic making have affected (and have potential to affect) our understanding of Christian worship and theology. Special emphasis will be placed on experiences in China. In today’s world, life seems too busy to pose the question. What does it mean to be human? we only need to be confronted with serious illness, face a death of a loved one, suffer economic reversals, or have our world shaken by catastrophic events-war or a terrorist attack for ultimate questions to arise. Christians raise the question of the meaning of being human in the context of understanding ourselves in relationship with God. We will draw upon essential theological concepts-grace, personhood, sin, salvation, and a God who desires to be in relationship with us- as shaped by theologians.
Alternative Description:
In today’s world, life seems too busy to pose the question. What does it mean to be human? we only need to be confronted with serious illness, face a death of a loved one, suffer economic reversals, or have our world shaken by catastrophic events-war or a terrorist attack for ultimate questions to arise. Christians raise the question of the meaning of being human in the context of understanding ourselves in relationship with God. We will draw upon essential theological concepts-grace, personhood, sin, salvation, and a God who desires to be in relationship with us- as shaped by theologians. How does one sever a people's roots? Answer: Destroy its memory.
Deny a people the knowledge of who they are and where they came
from. This course will discuss the importance of culture for persons and communities, the pressure to acculturate that social minorities face, as well as the consequences and costs of such processes
Year 4 Bachelor
Cross-cultural examination of the construction of women's spiritual power, relationships between individual and communal healing, the spiritual and the political, and distinctive contributions of women's spiritual practices and beliefs.
Alternative Description:
Cross-cultural examination of the construction of women's spiritual power, relationships between individual and communal healing, the spiritual and the political, and distinctive contributions of women's spiritual practices and beliefs.
