Sandra Milena Rios Oyola

I am a FNRS postdoctoral researcher at ISPOLE. My research project investigates how transitional justice helps to restore victims' human dignity; I focus on the case of Colombia's Truth commission, Historical Memory Commission and Reparations. My research interests cover the study of democratic transitions, memory studies, and religious peacebuilding from an interdisciplinary perspective. I have participated in large international collaborative research teams and conducted fieldwork in various contexts including US, Colombia, Hungary, Chile and Germany.

Education

PhD in Sociology at the University of Aberdeen                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    [2010-2014]

• Thesis: ‘Religion and the Social Construction of Memory amidst Violence. The Case of the Massacre of Bojayá (Colombia)’.
• Supervised by John Brewer and Cristina Flesher Fominaya.
• Scholarship by the Leverhulme Trust, Compromise after Conflict Programme (Overseas tuition fees, stipend and Research allowance).

MA in Religious Studies, Florida International University                                  [2008-2009]

• Thesis: ‘Memory as an Act of Faith: Transnational Religious Memories of Colombian Migrants in Miami’.
• Supervised by Ana Maria Bidegain, Oren Stier and Christine Gudorf.
• Teaching Assistantship by the Department of Religious Studies (Overseas tuition fees)

BA, Sociology, Universidad Nacional de Colombia                                               [2004-2008]

• Thesis: ‘The Rhetorical Construction of Miracles. Discourse Analysis of Pentecostal Testimony’ [La construcción retórica del milagro. Análisis del discurso de testimonios Pentecostales]

Publications

Book

2018 Rios Oyola, Sandra and Natascha Mueller-Hirth (eds.) Time and Temporality in Transitional and Post-Conflict Societies. London: Routledge, Routledge Advances in Sociology series. ISBN: 9781138631366

2015. Religion, Social Memory and Conflict. The Massacre of Bojayá in Colombia. Hampshire: Palgrave McMillan, Studies in Compromise after Conflict series. ISBN: 9781137461834

Journal Articles

2017. The Local Church's Defence of Human and Ethnic Rights in Chocó, Colombia. International Journal of Latin American Religions. 1: 309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41603-017-0028-z

2017. La Memoria Social como Herramienta de la Justicia Transicional en Chile y Corea del Sur. Revista Colombiana de Sociología, 40 (1) Supl. pp. 129-147. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15446/rcs.v40n1Supl.65910

2013. Religious Emotions and Religious Peacebuilding: The Case of Bojayá (Colombia). Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religions, 15 http://diskus.basr.ac.uk/index.php/DISKUS/article/view/9/9

Book Chapters

2018. Religious Emotions and Forgiveness. In: John Brewer (ed.) Compromise after Conflict. Palgrave Mcmillan.

2018. (Forthcoming) with Acaron, T. Peacebuilding and Dance in Afro-Colombian Funerary Ritual. In: S. Appleby, J. Mitchell, H. Culberston and T. Hawksley (eds), The Arts of Peacebuilding, Oxford University Press 'Strategic Peacebuilding' Series.

2018. with Natascha Mueller-Hirth. Introduction: Temporal Perspectives on Transitional and Post-conflict societies. In: Natascha Mueller-Hirth and Sandra Rios Oyola (eds.) Time and Temporality in Transitional and Post-Conflict Societies. London: Routledge, Routledge Advances in Sociology series. ISBN: 9781138631366, pp. 1-16.

2018. with Natascha Mueller-Hirth. Conclusion: Defusing Time bombs: Towards and Understanding of Time and Temporality in Peacebuilding. In: In: Natascha Mueller-Hirth and Sandra Rios Oyola (eds.) Time and Temporality in Transitional and Post-Conflict Societies. London: Routledge, Routledge Advances in Sociology series. ISBN: 9781138631366, pp. 180-187.

2018. Peace Processes and Social Acceleration: The Case of Colombia. In: Natascha Mueller-Hirth and Sandra Rios Oyola (eds.) Time and Temporality in Transitional and Post-Conflict Societies. London: Routledge, Routledge Advances in Sociology series. ISBN: 9781138631366, pp. 50-64.

2015. Religion and the Social Reconstruction of Memory amid Violence in Bojayá, Chocó (Colombia): Creating TJ from Below. In: S. D. Brunn (Ed.), The changing world religion map: Sacred places, identities, practices and politics. New York: Springer. Pp. 3679-3699. ISBN: 9789401793766

2010. Análisis del Discurso Neopentecostal. In: C. Tejeiro (Ed.) El Pentecostalismo en Colombia. Prácticas religiosas, liderazgo y participación política. Observatorio Diversidad Religiosa. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. ISBN: 9789588063720

Dictionary Entry

(Forthcoming 2020). Religious Emotions and Religious Peacebuilding in Colombia, In: Jolyon Mitchell, Lesley Orr, Martyn Percy, Francesca Po (eds.). Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Peace. John Wiley & Sons, Limited.

(Forthcoming 2018). Colombia, In: Gooren, Henri, ed. 2019. Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions. Religions of the World. Springer International Publishing. //www.springer.com/us/book/9783319270777.

2009. Protestantism in Colombia, In: D. Patte (Ed.) The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Other Publications

2017. Bojayá y los Medios: En contra de los discursos de Invisibilidad y Olvido. In: Verdadabierta.com http://www.verdadabierta.com/debate-la-prensa-en-torno-de-las-victimas/6647-bojaya-y-los-medios-en-contra-de-los-discursos-de-invisibilidad-y-olvido, May 22.

2016. Colombia: peace must overcome the legacy of fear. In: Latin America Bureau, http://lab.org.uk/colombia-peace-must-overcome-the-legacy-of-fear , April 27.

2010. Colombia: Religious Scenario. In: Hemisphere, vol 19, Spring. pp 11-12 (ISSN 08983038), https://lacc.fiu.edu/hemisphere/hemisphere_vol_19.pdf

2010. La construcción retórica de los milagros de sanación en Iglesias Neopentecostales, [Rhetorical construction of healing miracles in Neopentecostal Churches]. In: Memorias del II Congreso Internacional sobre diversidad y dinámicas del Cristianismo en América Latina, Diversidad y Dinámicas del Cristianismo en America Latina. Editorial Universidad San Buenaventura, Serie: Religión, Sociedad y Política.

2008. El Espíritu Neopentecostal y la Estética de Consumo, [The Neopentecostal Spirit and the Consummerism Aesthetic]. In: Memorias del XII Congreso Latinoamericano sobre Religión y Etnicidad: Cambios Culturales, Conflictos y Transformaciones Religiosas CD. Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá. ISBN: 970-94056-4-0