Tanya Erzen

Tanya Erzen is an associate professor of Religion and Gender Queer Studies at the University of Puget Sound. She is also an author who has written four books as well as articles about religion, sexuality, gender and American conservatism. Her book Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement received the Ruth Benedict Prize from the American Anthropological Association and the Gustave O Arlt Award from American Anthropological Association.

Erzen received a Ph.D. in American Studies from New York University in 2002 and has a B.A. in American Civilization from Brown University (1995). She lives in Seattle and is the executive director of the Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (FEPPS), a group providing college classes to women in Washington's prisons and raising awareness about issues educational access and incarceration.