Erin is an islander, born in the Caribbean with mixed Mexican and German heritage, but often calls the Midwest her
home. She grew up in a small Iowa town, where her mother owns a family-established bar/restaurant going 60 years strong. Erin spent the majority of her childhood and adolescence unaware of her latinidad and was heavily molded by the farming sensibilities of the community that developed around Sunnyside Tavern and Cafe, which filled a void made by divorce, absent father figures and family tragedies. Despite these emotional hurdles, Erin sees herself as a quirky, witty and fierce-spirited individual who likes to take on any challenge.
Erin spends much of her time doing graphic design and furthering her artistic skills in digital mediums. She is a former dancer and collegiate distance runner, but now attends Vanderbilt Divinity School
in Nashville, TN where she will obtain her Masters of Divinity degree in the Spring of 2015. She is thoroughly Wesleyan (although her relationship a denomination of any kind is complicated at best), and has only vague inklings of what she wants to do with her life. She lives with her partner, David, who is equally unaware of his life's plans, but knows he wants Erin to be included in them. Erin is passionate about theology and how it relates ministry and pop culture; immigration and civil rights, as well as other social justice issues; queer, Latin@/x, and feminist perspectives; and things that generally lie at the intersections of race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and embodiment. She also fancies good food, sampling beverages of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic varieties, and giraffes.
Other Things Erin Likes:
Running, dancing and ZUMBA-ing, writing snarky blog posts, Irish Breakfast Tea and café puertoriqueño, music of the Indie/Punk-rock and reggeaton genres, intimate theological discussions, marathon-style watching of TV shows, zombies and monsters, pushing buttons, speaking Spanglish as best she can, dissing hipsters and pretending she's not one, ChapStick, and all the ice creams.
People Who Have Influenced Erin:
Paul Fiddes, Catherine Keller, Elizabeth Johnson, Michel Foucault, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Rob Bell, Pam Eisenbaum, Sandra Cisneros, Justo Gonzalez, Lesslie Newbigin, Kirster Stendahl, Emilie Townes, Mark Jordan, Sandra Polaski, Eboo Patel, teachers and mentors from Simpson College and Vanderbilt Divinity School, numerous musicians and Renaissance artists, and her mother, Patty Guzman Suess.
You can find Erin around the Internet at these places:
