Elisa Pulido, Claremont Graduate University

Friday, November 6, 2020  |  6:30 PM PDT

Location | Online via Zoom.

View a video of the event.

Elisa Pulido discusses her recent spiritual biography of Margarito Bautista, a Mexican cultural nationalist, Mormon convert, and Utopian Founder. Bautista left behind thousands of pages of his own writing—more than any other indigenous convert to date. Pulido discusses the major contributions of his extant works. She demonstrates that Bautista’s efforts to publish and distribute his thought throughout the U.S.-Mexico borderlands was an authorial activism meant to offer a new spiritual identity to Mexicans and encourage them to prepare for a prophetic destiny of leadership on the world stage. David Hayes-Bautista contextualizes Margarito’s life and thought through a presentation of his research on the centuries-long intellectual tradition of Atlauhtla, Margarito’s birthplace, and surrounding areas on Mexico’s Central Plateau. His discussion includes ancient documents, intellectual contributions, and major figures of the area, including Chilmalpahin, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Antonio Alzate, and Emiliano Zapata.

Access the audio of Hayes-Bautista’s presentation, which is not included in the video of the event or listen below: