Chair, Anthropology and World Languages; Professor, Spanish; Faculty Liaison, Community Engagement
Dr. Edwards is a Professor of Spanish in the Department of Anthropology and World Languages. She also serves as chair of that department and as faculty liaison to Community Engagement, helping to facilitate the Beyond the Gates course. She leads the department’s Language in Motion group where students take language and culture activities to area K-12 schools. Dr. Edwards is active in the Erie community, working with area refugee resettlement and anti-racism initiatives. She loves to travel and frequently leads student groups to Spain and Mexico.
- Ph.D. Hispanic Literatures, University of Pittsburgh, 1998
- M.A. Middlebury College, Spanish Literature, 1988
- B.A. Gannon University, Foreign Languages and Literatures, 1985
- Universitat de Barcelona, semester abroad, 1984
- Introductory and intermediate Spanish
- Conversation/Composition
- Introduction to Literature
- Spanish Civilization
- Latin American Literature
- Latin American Cultures
- Spanish for Business
- Spanish for Health and Social Services
- Composition/Translation
- Women and Gender in Hispanic Civilization
- Latin American Theater
- Member, Asociación de Estudios de Género y Sexualidades
- Member, Pennsylvania State Language Association
- “Philotes, Spaude, Idioma: Thoughts on the Passing of a Friend”. The Forum: A publication of Phi Sigma Iota. 38. Spring 2020. 5-6.
- “Her Name was Inés”, excerpt of Visiones de infancia by Maria Flora Yáñez. Nashville Review. No. 27. Fall 2018. https://as.vanderbilt.edu/nashvillereview/archives/15074
- Translation. “The First Fear”, excerpts of Visiones de infancia by María Flora Yáñez. Asymptote. October 2018. https://www.asymptotejournal.com/nonfiction/maria-flora-yanez-visions-of-childhood/.
- Selected Participant, Bread Loaf Conference on Translation, Middlebury College, Middlebury. VT. June 2018.
- Book review. Mexico’s Nobodies: The Cultural Legacy of Soldadera and African-American Women. B. Christina Arce. Revista de Estudios de Género y Sexualidades (formerly Letras Femeninas). 45.2. 2020.
- “Mentoring the Next Generation: In Praise of the Student Teacher.” PSMLA Forum, 84: 1. Fall 2014, 8.
- “At the Intersection of Catholic and Mercy: There’s an Elephant in the Room”. With Richard McCarty and Mary Hembrow Snyder. Journal of Catholic Higher Education. 33:1. 2014, 63-74.
- Book review. Mexican Women and the Other Side of Immigration by Luz Maria Gordillo. Letras Femeninas. 38: 02. 2012.
- “La cómplice oficial: Catalina in Arráncame la vida by Angeles Mastretta.” In The Woman in Latin America and Spanish Literature: Essays on Iconic Characters. Eds. Eva Paulina Bueno and Maria Claudia Andre. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co. 2012.
- “Aquí: Activating Memory in the Performance Art of María Alejandrina Lorenzini”. The Behrend Conference on Gender, March 2021.
- “Ghosts of Post-Memory in La Resta, by Alia Trabucco Zerán.” Congreso Internacional de Literaturas Hispánicas. March 2021.
- “Frida no está sola: Diez mujeres inolvidables”. Pennsylvania State Modern Languages Conference. Pittsburgh, PA. October 2018.
- “Deviance and Defiance: Impossible Motherhood: Testimony of an Abortion Addict by Irene Vilar”. Northeastern Modern Languages Association. Pittsburgh, PA. April 2018.
- “Towards an Ethical Teaching of Culture”. Presentation with Cole Lowe. Pennsylvania State Modern Languages Association Conference, Hershey, PA. October 2017.
- “Deviance and Defiance: Impossible Motherhood: Testimony of an Abortion Addict by Irene Vilar”, Circles of Community Gender Conference, Penn State Behrend, April 16, 2017.
- “Playing for America: Inclusion and Exclusion in The Gods of Tango, by Carolina de Robertis”. Northeastern Modern Languages Association. Hartford, CT. April, 2016.
- Post-Secondary Educator of the Year, Pennsylvania State Modern Language Association, 2016.
- David A. Portlock Outstanding International Educator Award, Pennsylvania Council for International Education (PaCIE). 2006
- Teaching Excellence Award, Mercyhurst College, 2002.
- Fulbright Teacher Exchange, Mexico, D.F., 1992
Dr. Edwards’ research focuses on women’s life-writing in Latin America, particularly in Mexico and Chile, testimonio, and the post-dictatorship literature of the Southern Cone. She also engages in literary translation and has published translations of the work of María Flora Yáñez, a 20th-century Chilean author.
Our students have completed research projects on topics of sociolinguistics, language pedagogy, Golden Age Spanish literature, 20th-century literature by women, and gender and culture. We strongly encourage study abroad and our students have studied in Spain and Latin America through semester, summer, and faculty-led programs. They have gone on to earn Fulbright scholarships and Gilman Scholarships for study abroad; they have been selected for the Peace Corps. Others have worked with the North American Teaching Assistant program, sponsored by the Spanish government, teaching for a year in Spain. Many of our alumni enter graduate programs studying linguistics or literature in the U.S. and abroad.