Dr. Edwards is chair of the department of Anthropology and World Languages and Professor of Spanish at Mercyhurst University, where she has taught since 1989. She also serves as faculty liaison for community engagement. Dr. Edwards studied Foreign Language and Literature at Gannon University, earned an MA from Middlebury University in Spanish Literature, and a PhD in Hispanic Literature from the University of Pittsburgh. She studied a semester at the Universitat de Barcelona, Spain. She received a Fulbright grant to teach at the Escuela Normal Superior de México, in Mexico City. Her scholarship is focused on contemporary Latin American women’s life-writing and literary translation.

By virtue of her life and work, we can say that Dr. Edwards has a Benedictine heart which shines in everything she has done and continues to do for those in the Erie community. Her work includes serving on the board of the Multicultural Community Resource Center where she is currently board president; serving as secretary of the board of the Script Project, an organization working to create culturally responsive spaces in our community, and a member of the planning committee for the Amerimasala Festival, a multicultural arts celebration which honors the value and dignity of all people. She has led student groups to do service at the Misión de Amistad in Mérida, Mexico, a sister city of Erie, and a community in which many Benedictines have also served.

Learn more about Dr. Edwards on the Mercyhurst website.