Marlene Ferreras

Education: 

• Ph.D., Practical Theology: Spiritually Integrative Psychotherapy, Claremont School of Theology, Claremont. 2019
• M.A., Theology, Claremont School of Theology, Claremont. 2017.
• M.A., Theology with an emphasis in Biblical Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena. 2012.
• M.S., Marital and Family Therapy, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda. 2011.
• B.A., Religious Studies, La Sierra University, Riverside. 2003.
• B.A., Spanish, La Sierra University, Riverside. 2003.

Principal Research Interests

Marlene Mayra Ferreras is the daughter of a single parent Cuban refugee mother. Born and raised in southern California, Marlene was a pastor for 14 years in the Seventh-day Adventist denomination and was ordained by the Pacific Union Conference in October 2012. Her academic interests are at the intersection of social science and theology.

Marlene's research studies the identity and eschatology of indigenous female maquila workers in Yucatan, Mexico. She is interested in the strategies women use to resist systems of violence and oppression for the purpose of providing spiritual care that assists women in identifying and developing preferred futures.

Research AREA Highlights: 

• Pastoral Counseling and Psychotherapy
• Mesoamerican Spirituality 
• Marital and Family Therapy
• Latinx Theology

Email: mferrera@lasierra.edu

Awards

• Wills and Dorothy Fisher Award, Claremont School of Theology, September 2018
• Doctoral Fellow, Forum for Theological Exploration, Georgia. 2015, 2017.
• Doctoral Dissertation Fellow, Hispanic Theological Initiative, Princeton. 2017.
• Alumni Rising Star Award, H.M.S. Richards Divinity School, La Sierra University, Riverside. 2013.

Publications

• Ferreras, Marlene M., Duane R. Bidwell, and Thomas Pernecky. 2019. "The University as a Maquila: Whose Voice, Whose Ideas, Whose Knowledge?" In Postdisciplinary Knowledge, 1st Edition. Routledge