Dr. Erica Tom is an artist, scholar, and educator.
Erica is an interdisciplinary scholar, situating her work at the intersections of Ethnic Studies, Native American Studies, Animal Studies, and Environmental Studies. Her current research centers on the history of fire, indigenous cultural burning practices, resilience, racial and environmental justice. Erica is a student of cultural burning under the mentorship of Chairman Ron W. Goode of the North Fork Mono Tribe. Inspired by her personal experience in the October 2017 wildfires of Northern California and training in trauma-informed emergency response and education, she brings these practices into the classroom. Erica has been exploring trauma, identity, and resilience for over a decade: her doctoral research focused on the significance of horse-human relationships within prison programs and mounted police.
Erica will begin as an English Generalist/Ethnic Literature instructor at the Santa Rosa Junior College in Fall 2022. The last two years, she has served as the Director of Native American Studies at Sonoma State University, where she supported the Native American Initiative, facilitated the Native American & Indigenous Studies Reading Group, and curated Native American Heritage Month. She is grateful to have learned through collaborative programing development with the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians and Kashia Elementary School; they are currently piloting a Pen Pal Program to support literacy, knowledge of endemic animals, and identity development through a letter writing program between students at Kashia Elementary School and Sonoma State University.
Working across campus, Erica proudly served as an Equal Opportunity Program Academy instructor, and the lead Humanities curriculum coordinator for the Summer Bridge Program. In 2021, she was awarded the Social Justice Week Impact award and the Equal Opportunity Program “It Takes a Village Faculty Award.” She lectures in the American Multicultural Studies Department, as well as in the Department of English and the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies. While teaching at Sonoma State 2017-2022, Erica designed two new General Education courses American Multicultural Studies 125, Multicultural Communication: Listening, Speaking, and Presenting centering communication skills and oral presentations, and American Multicultural Studies/Native American Studies 240, Trauma and Healing in the Anthropocene: Race, Species, and Environment fostering commitment to life-long learning. Erica has also taught American Multicultural Studies 225, How Racism Works: American in Black and White, English 100A-B, and core seminar courses for the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies. She continues to serve as an Affiliated Faculty in the Cultural Resources Management M.A. Program at Sonoma State University, supporting graduate student research.
Erica is a poet and artist, creating public arts projects collaboratively with the public, including a community healing event after the 2017 Northbay fires, and the educational gathering for elementary school children, law enforcement, and the public, Horses of Newark. During 2016-2018, Erica served as the Director of Arts & Education at an equine non-profit in Sonoma County, California. She also worked as the Associate at the Center for Law, Inequality, and Metropolitan Equity in the Rutgers Law School 2015-2017.
Erica is an educator, bridging academic and equine worlds, she takes her teaching beyond the classroom. In 2018, Erica founded Equi-Sense, a therapeutic equine program melding ethology, trauma-informed practices, and Natural Horsemanship. Her research provides her with unique expertise in horse-human relationships and identity development. Her work with horses (including experience gentling mustangs and holistic horse care) provides her with a deep understanding of horses as powerful healers and teachers. Melding her academic and equine knowledge, she guides clients in identifying personal and professional challenges and goals, and developing effective communication and leaderships skills. As Founder and Executive Director, Erica partners with farms across Sonoma County to serve clients from Napa valley to the Sonoma coast. Serving people of all backgrounds, Erica also focuses on reaching children and families in the foster care system, fire survivors, firefighters and first responders.
Erica earned her 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.