Esmeralda Sanchez Salazar

Esmeralda Sánchez Salazar is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of sociology at Rice University. At Rice, Salazar serves as a graduate fellow of the Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP) and a doctoral research assistant with the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC). Her primary research explores the intersection of religion, education, and civic engagement among Latino congregations. She has published in academic journals such as Sociology of Religion and Socius. Her most recent publication, “Challenging Evolution: Race, Religion and Attitudes Toward Teaching Creationism” explores religious and racial and ethnic differences in support for teaching creationism in public schools. Previously, Salazar served as deputy director of the Faith and Education Coalition for the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) and director of the Texas Hispanic Youth Institute. Salazar earned a master’s degree from the University of Texas at Dallas and a bachelor’s from Southern Methodist University.