PASOS Network Publishes New Journal Focused on Faith, Culture and the Arts

The PASOS Network at Dominican University has announced the publication of its new journal of scholarly research, literature and visual art.

The inaugural edition of  Nepantla: Undergraduate Journal of Faith, Culture, and the Arts is now available to read online. The issue features over 20 pieces of prose, poetry, personal and scholarly essays, photography, and art from Dominican University contributors and undergraduate college students from around the country. Aligned with the mission of the PASOS Network, the journal promotes theological expressions of art and culture.

In the indigenous Nahuatl language of Central Mexico, “nepantla” means “in-betweenness,” and the journal aims to publish works that explore and embrace this state of being, while also highlighting the voices of marginalized students in academia.

“There is a lot of creativity that comes from in-betweenness,” said Armando Guerrero Estrada, director of the PASOS Network, which works to advance culturally responsive practices in Catholic higher education. “We want to reach out to students who are creating art that touches on that liminality, that in-betweenness, and really uplift it.”

Many DU students experience nepantla as immigrants, children of immigrants or first-generation college students, Guerrero Estrada noted. These experiences, too, are explored in Nepantla: Undergraduate Journal of Faith, Culture, and the Arts.

The journal itself exemplifies the in-between as it is part-literary and artistic magazine, part-academic journal.

Contributors to the inaugural issue include Dominican University students Monica Petek, Viviana Tellez ’24, Bryan Rivera, Madilyn Haughey, Emily Reynoso Muñoz, Aliana Alcala, Andrea Belmares, Gabriela Corral ’24, Ruby Cruz, Mariana Hernandez, Andrea Calderón and Laura Espinosa ’24, and DU Assistant Professor of Theology Dr. Claudia Herrera-Montero.

The issue was designed by Shalom Borrallo ’24 as her senior graphic design capstone project. Written pieces and art were selected for publication by student editors Emily Reynos Muñoz, Rosa I. Padilla Rincon ’24 and Tatiana Uram ’24.

Nepantla: Undergraduate Journal of Faith, Culture, and the Arts will be published annually, and submissions for the 2025 edition will be accepted through Dec. 1.