Victoria Basug Slabinski

Education

• University of Virginia - PhD Religious Studies (Modern and Contemporary Religious Thought – in progress), Graduate Certificate in American Studies
• Yale Divinity School - MDiv
• Miami University - BA Music and Social Justice Studies (Religious Studies and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies minors)

Research Interests

Theological aesthetics, gender and sexuality studies, eschatology, liberationist Christian theologies, decolonial and postcolonial theories, Filipino and Filipino American studies, Roman Catholic theologies.

Teaching Experience

Instructor of Record, Saint Mary's College (Notre Dame, IN)
•    The Christian Tradition, Fall 2025
Lead Teaching Assistant, University of Virginia
•    Religion, Ethics, and Healthcare, Fall 2024
Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Virginia
•    Religion, Ethics, and Global Environments, Spring 2025
•    Introduction to Asian American Studies, Spring 2024
•    New Testament and Early Christianity, Fall 2023
•    "Spiritual but Not Religious": Spirituality in America, Spring 2023
•    Elements of Christian Thought, Fall 2022 

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Publications

• “Queer Utopianism and the Telling of New Stories: The Mythological Interventions of Lee Paje’s Art.” In Bible and Critical Theory, eds. Jacqueline M. Hidalgo and Peter Mena, vol. 21, no. 2 (Fall 2025).
• “Beyond Grand Narratives: Towards an Archipelagic Approach to the Philippine Quincentennial.” In “Why We Can’t Wait”: Racism and the Church, eds. Catherine Punsalan-Manlimos, Elisabeth T. Vasko, and Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier, pages 39¬¬–53. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2023.

Public-Facing and Short-Form Academic Publications

• “Religious Nationalism: Narratives, Conflict, and Peacebuilding.” Co-authored with Prithvi Iyer. Contending Modernities. August 14, 2024.
• “The Politics of the Gender, Sexuality, and Religion Nexus: Perspectives from the Margins.” Co-authored with Nicola Chehade. Contending Modernities. April 1, 2024.
• “Religion in Modernity Glossary: A Religious Studies Masterclass.” Contending Modernities. January 19, 2024.
• “Religious Studies and Theology: Decolonial Perspectives in/on the Disciplines.” Contending Modernities. September 13, 2023.
• “On ‘Myths of Origin’ and the ‘True Origin’: Tillich’s Socialist Decision and Decolonial Concerns.” In the North American Paul Tillich Society, ed. Verna Marina Ehret, vol. 49, no. 1-2 (Spring/Summer 2023): 21-24.

Selected Conference Presentations

• “Beauty and/as Liberation: Balthasar’s Theological Aesthetics in Conversation with Queer, Feminist, and Decolonial Thought.” Catholic Theological Society of America, accepted for June 2026.
• "Questions of the Future: Moltmann, Rahner, and De La Torre on Eschatology, Freedom, and Hope." American Academy of Religion, November 2025.
• "Re-Narrating 'One Baptism' towards the Healing of Colonial Wounds." Catholic Theological Society of America, June 2025.
• "Modern/Colonial Gender Systems and the Task of the Queer Catholic Theologian." College Theology Society May/June 2025.
• "Memory, Homeplaces, and the (After)Lives of Queer Feminist Ancestors." "After-Life" Graduate Religious Studies Conference at Brown University, April 2024.
• "Decolonial Feminism and the Imagination of the (Pre)Colonial Past: Gloria Anzaldúa and Marcella Althaus-Reid on Religion and Memory." American Academy of Religion, November 2023.
• "Beyond Colonial Visibility and Imperial Forgetting: Approaching the Philippines’ Pasts through Gina Apostol’s Insurrecto.” Southeast Regional Conference of the American Academy of Religion, March 2022.
• "Justice and the United Methodist Church: A Queer Response to a Global Denomination’s Crisis.” American Academy of Religion, November/December 2020.

Fellowships, Scholarships, Grants, and Awards

Fellowships

• University of Virginia Dean’s Doctoral Fellowship (2021-26)
• Madeleva Fellowship, Center for the Study of Spirituality at Saint Mary’s College (2025)
• Asian Theological Institute: Summer Institute and Spring Pedagogy Workshop (2024-25)
• Louisville Institute Doctoral Fellowship (2023-25)

Scholarships

• Dolores L. Christie Scholarship, Catholic Theological Society of America (2025)
• Yale Divinity School Marquand Scholarship (2018-21)

Research Grants and Other Awards

• Nelson Scholars Program Grant: University of Virginia East Asia Center (2025)
• Graduate Global Research Grant: Center for Global Inquiry & Innovation (2024)
• Forum for Theological Exploration: Forum for Theological Educators (2022)
• Yale University Council on Southeast Asia Studies Grant (2020)

Languages 

• Filipino (Tagalog): Intermediate Reading Proficiency, Intermediate Speaking Level
• Spanish: Intermediate Reading Proficiency