Erica Tom | English

Position

English Instructor

Office

Emeritus

Dr. Erica Tom (she/her/they/them) joined the English Department, as a specialist in Ethnic Literature, in Fall 2022. Before coming to Santa Rosa Junior College, they taught in American Multicultural Studies and the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies for five years at Sonoma State University, serving for two years as the Director of Native American Studies.

She loves reading books, talking about books, and reading more books! She currently co-facilitates the "All Our Relations Reading Group" with Dr. Mary Churchill, a cross-campus learning community that explores and strengthens our connections to all our relations. Students, faculty, staff, and the public are welcome to join (email etom@santarosa.edu).

Dr. Tom is an interdisciplinary scholar, educator, poet, and filmmaker. Her current research centers on the history of fire, indigenous cultural burning practices, resilience, racial and environmental justice. She is a student of cultural burning under the mentorship of Chairman Ron W. Goode of the North Fork Mono Tribe. Dr. Tom has been exploring trauma, identity, and resilience for over a decade: their doctoral research focused on the significance of horse-human relationships within mounted police and prison programs. Her publications include "Humanizing Animals: Talking About Prisoners, Horses, and Second Chances," in the award-winning collection Racial Ecologies, edited by LeiLani Nishime and Kim Hester-Williams.

Dr. Tom supports graduate student research as an Affiliated Faculty in the Cultural Resources Management M.A. Program at Sonoma State University. She is excited to support coordination for the "The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria: Food Sovereignty and Cultural Land Management Practices Lecture Series" with Project Director Dr. Janet Hess.

In 2021, Dr. Tom was awarded the Social Justice Week Impact award and the Equal Opportunity Program “It Takes a Village Faculty Award" at Sonoma State University. Sheis an activist and educator. Bridging academic and equine worlds, Dr. Tom takes her teaching beyond the classroom. In 2018, they founded Equi-Sensea therapeutic equine program melding ethology, trauma-informed practices, and Natural Horsemanship. Equi-Sense partners with the County of Sonoma to offer low-cost therapeutic horsemanship to foster children.

Dr. Tom earned their Ph.D. in American Studies at Rutgers University-Newark in 2017. She earned her M.A. in English Literature, with a focus on Critical Pedagogy, from Sonoma State University in 2012, and her B.A. in English Literature with a minor in Classical Studies from the University of Washington in 2007.