In this revelatory online workshop, Dr. Andrew Chesnut—leading scholar of Latin American folk religion—takes you beyond church altars and into the candlelit shrines of the people’s saints. These subaltern saints, such as Jesús Malverde, San La Muerte, and Maximón, embody the hopes, defiance, and devotions of those living on society’s margins. Emerging from the poor, the criminalized, and the forgotten, they form a pantheon of power that challenges religious hierarchies and reclaims the sacred for the disenfranchised.
Dr. Chesnut examines how Jesús Malverde, the “narco-saint” of Sinaloa, blesses both smugglers and the desperate poor who seek justice and survival; how San La Muerte, the skeleton saint of Argentina and Paraguay, wields both healing and harm in his devotees’ lives; and how Maximón, the cigar-smoking trickster of Guatemala, fuses Catholic, Mayan, and shamanic traditions into one compelling figure of spiritual rebellion.
Through striking visuals, field research, and spiritual analysis, Dr. Chesnut reveals how these folk saints invert conventional holiness—offering protection, vengeance, healing, and favor without judgment. Join this exploration of faith from below, where the sacred speaks in the voices of the subaltern and holiness wears the face of resistance.
= Multipedia Workshop 
