Molina Named Croghan Assistant Professor in Catholic Studies

EVANSTON, Ill. --- J. Michelle Molina, assistant professor of religion at Northwestern University, has been named the John W. Croghan Assistant Professor in Catholic Studies.

An historian of Catholicism in Latin America, Molina studies the Jesuit order in the early modern period. She explores Jesuit spirituality in an effort to understand how individuals -- both elite and commoner -- approached and experienced religious transformation.

Molina's published work has focused on the Jesuits in 17th and18th century Mexico and the order's relationship with Catholic laity. She recently authored "Technologies of the Self: The Letters of Mexican Jesuit Spiritual Daughters" in the prestigious journal History of Religions (May 2008).

Molina has been awarded numerous fellowships and honors, most recently a visiting faculty appointment in women's studies and the history of Christianity at Harvard Divinity School.

Before joining Northwestern's faculty in the summer of 2008, Molina taught at the University of California, Irvine.