CTS Talks: Jose Francisco Morales Torres, PhD

We are a mystery to ourselves. For millennia, philosophers, poets, and prophets have wrestled with one enduring question: what does it mean to be human—and why does it matter? Questions of identity and meaning remain unsettled. We are often told to look “inside” ourselves to discover our true identity—our spirit, our soul. But what if we’re looking in the wrong direction? What if, to encounter our deepest self, we must not turn inward but outward? What if the self is not hidden within, but formed at the boundary between ourselves and the world? This CTS Talk offers a new way of thinking about self-discovery—not as inward excavation, but as something that emerges in relation, encounter, and connection. In doing so, it also opens up new possibilities for social and political empowerment, challenging the -isms and phobias that divide us by reimagining the self as fundamentally shaped through our shared, relational world.

Experience a series of captivating “TED Talk” style lectures at CTS Talks. Delivered by distinguished guests who are subject matter experts, these thought-provoking talks provide a platform to gain insight on topics that tie together intellectual curiosity and community reflection.

Jose Francisco Morales Torres, PhD

Rev. Dr. José Francisco Morales Torres (PhD, Claremont School of Theology) is the Associate Professor of Comparative Theology and Philosophy at Chicago Theological Seminary. His work spans comparative theology and philosophy, philosophies of race, theological and philosophical anthropology, and Latin American and Caribbean thought. His first book, Wonder as a New Starting Point for Theological Anthropology: Opened by the World (Lexington Books, 2023), examines the experience of wonder as a lens for understanding what it means to be human. His more recent publications bring insights from philosophies of race into theological discourse, seeking to make theology more responsive, timely, and attuned to contemporary realities. He is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He is married to Rev. Daphne M. Gascot Arias, also ordained minister with the Disciples of Christ and a Ph.D. student (Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies). They share life and laughs with their daughters Daphne Magnolia and Yael Marie.