Juan Carlos Esparza Ochoa, Ph.D.
Director, Program on Religion/Latin American Studies
Juan Carlos Esparza Ochoa joined Baylor University in February 2019 as part of the School of Social Work and as the Director of the Program on Religion and Latin America Studies in the Institute for Studies of Religion. His work is focused on approaching social intervention at the intersection of poverty and culture with both research and social work practice from a transdisciplinary perspective, close to vulnerable populations of the Global South, particularly focusing on Latin America.
Juan Carlos has 0ver 25 years of research, intervention, and teaching on the complex relationships of poverty and culture emphasizing the understanding of beliefs and practices now and through history. He contributes from a broad background including Social Sciences, Social Work and Philosophy, a robust quantitative and qualitative qualifications, successfully designing and teaching intervention strategies (in both formal and alternative environments), as well as research approaches which include temporal and spatial dimensions to study and evaluate intervention in poverty environments.