This session brings together two presentations that reveal how religion, science, and culture have intertwined across Texas and northern Mexico to shape the region’s intellectual and spiritual landscapes.
In “The Gods of Big Bend National Park,” Adam T. Hogan (Texas Tech University) investigates how Big Bend’s physical and cultural terrain has long served as sacred ground. From Indigenous spiritual traditions to Catholic missions and modern expressions of pluralistic faith, the park has been a stage for evolving notions of the divine. Hogan’s case study of a 1993 religious freedom lawsuit highlights how tensions over belief and public space continue to define the role of religion in federal lands .
In “Seeder of Scientific Knowledge: A History of Science in Cd. Juárez, Rómulo Escobar, His Scientific and Cultural Legacy (1872–1946),” Miguel Hernández Vásquez (University of Texas at El Paso) recovers the life and impact of agronomist and educator Rómulo Escobar. A pioneer of dry-farming techniques and founder of the Escuela Particular de Agricultura, Escobar envisioned science as a tool for social progress and peace amid the turmoil of the Mexican Revolution. His writings and civic work bridged agriculture, education, and cultural identity, demonstrating how borderland innovation connected local practice with national reform .
Together, these papers reveal how faith and science have offered distinct yet complementary ways of understanding and transforming the Texas–Mexico borderlands—spaces where belief, inquiry, and identity converge.
Session Chair: John Klingemann, Sul Ross State University
