Karma Waltonen

Karma Waltonen's picture

Continuing Lecturer

355 Voorhies
Office Hours
Monday and Wednesday 10:30 to 11:30a.m. in 1325 Grove
Thursday 2:00 to 3:00p.m. via Zoom (https://ucdavisdss.zoom.us/j/9694795887)

Biography:

I teach a myriad of courses at UCD, with an emphasis on harnessing the power of writing and rhetoric. I'm the former President of the Margaret Atwood Society, and I'm the current editor-in-chief of its journal. I participate in many international conferences each year, sharing research on composition studies, popular culture, and literature. When I go to comic cons, it's because I'm speaking at them, which makes me a professional geek. In the summers, I teach a study abroad course in Oxford, focused on film. In addition to teaching a freshman seminar on stand-up comedy, I'm the faculty advisor for our stand-up club.

Research Areas:

Rhetoric and Composition, Margaret Atwood, Science Fiction/Fantasy, The Simpsons, Humor and Satire, Stand-Up, Narrative Medicine, Shakespeare, Drama, Popular Culture, Graphic Novels, 20th and 21st C Anglophone Literature Dr. Karma has specialized training in theatre, film, feminist theory, and anti-racist pedagogy, in addition to professional certification in online teaching.

Teaching Areas:

In my work for the Writing Center, I teach Advanced Composition, Writing in Film Studies, Writing in Health Science, Writing in International Relations, and Writing in Social Justice. My freshman seminars are on Margaret Atwood, Doctor Who, Satire, British Humour, The Simpsons, and Writing & Performing Stand-up Comedy. Each summer finds me teaching an abroad course, Oxford on Film, in the UK. Finally, I teach UCD's Forensic Case Reports graduate class.

Education:

Ph.D. English, University of California at Davis, 2006.
 
M.A. English, Florida State University, 2000.
 
B.A.   Theatre, Florida State University, 1997.
 
B.A.   English, Florida State University, 1997.

Awards:

Winner, Best Edited Collection (for Margaret Atwood’s Apocalypses), Margaret Atwood Society, 2015.

Winner, Academic Federation Excellence in Teaching Award, UC Davis, 2015. 

Publications: 

Books

Who’s Your Source? A Writer’s Guide to Effectively Evaluating and Ethically Using Resources (co-authored with Melissa Bender). Broadview Press, 2020.

The Simpsons in the Classroom: Embiggening the Learning Experience with the Wisdom of Springfield (co-authored with Denise Du Vernay). McFarland, 2010. 

Edited Collections

The Simpsons’ Beloved Springfield: Essays on the TV Series and Town that are a Part of Us All (co-authored with Denise Du Vernay). McFarland, 2019.

Writing Assignments in Context (co-authored with Melissa Bender). McFarland, 2016.

Margaret Atwood’s Apocalypses. Cambridge, 2015.

Editor in Chief, peer-reviewed journals

Margaret Atwood Studies, 2012-current

Refereed Journal Articles

“Loving the Other in Science Fiction by Women.” MOSF Journal of Science Fiction 1.1 (2016), <http://publish.lib.umd.edu/scifi/article/view/250>.

‘“Atwood’s view . . . is crazy, but very possible’: Students Reading Oryx and Crake.” Margaret Atwood Studies 5.2 (2011): 16-35.

“Saint Joan: From Witch to New Woman,” Shaw, The Annual of Bernard Shaw Studies 24:  Dionysian Shaw. Ed. Michel W. Pharand. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004. 186-203.

Book Chapters

“What We All Came Here to See: Sex.” The Simpsons’ Beloved Springfield: Essays on the TV Series and Town that Are a Part of Us All.” Eds. Karma Waltonen and Denise Du Vernay. McFarland, 2019. 244-260.

“My First Frontier: A Celebration of Fifty Years of Star Trek.” Time Lords & Tribbles, Winchesters and Muggles: The DePaul Pop Culture Conference. Eds. Paul Booth and Isabella Menichiello. DePaul, 2017. 252-254.

“Modernist Hero in a Postmodern Age.” The X-Files and Philosophy. Ed. Robert Arp. Open Court, 2016. 313-320.

“The Partner Project: Advanced Argument.” Twenty Writing Assignments in Context. Ed. Melissa Bender and Karma Waltonen. McFarland, 2015. 226-243.

“Sherlocked: Homosociality and (A)Sexuality.” Gender and the Modern Sherlock Holmes. Ed. Nadine Farghaly. McFarland, 2015. 192-207.

“Religion in Doctor Who: Cult Ethics.” Time and Relative Dimensions in Faith: Religion and Doctor Who. Eds. Andrew Crome and James McGrath. Darton, Longman and Todd, 2013. 145-160.

“To Boldly Go When No One Has Gone Before (or After)—Trek’s Timelines.” Star Trek and History. Ed. Nancy Reagin. Wiley, 2013. 158-175.

“Dark Comedies and Dark Ladies:  The New Femme Fatale.” Femme Fatalities: Representations of Strong Women in the Media. Ed. Rikke Schubart & Anne Gjelsvik. Nordicom, 2004. 127-144.

‘“Bodies conjured up for them by words’: Structure Through Myth in Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin.” Identity and Alterity in Canadian Literature. Risoprint, 2003. 255-264.

Encyclopedia Entries

“Terrence McNally.” American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies, Supplement XIII. Ed. Jay Parini. Scribner’s, 2003. 195-212.

“Jamaica Kincaid.” World Writers in English, Volume I. Ed. Jay Parini. Scribner’s, 2004. 195-212.

“Hanif Kureishi.” World Writers in English, Volume I. Ed. Jay Parini. Scribner’s, 2004. 231-48.

Book Reviews

Review of Priscilla L. Walton’s Our Cannibals, Ourselves in The American Review of Canadian Studies 36 (Dec 2006).

Other Publications (selected)

“She Will Arrive.” She’s Shameless: Women Write About Growing Up, Rocking Out and Fighting Back. Ed. Stacey May Fowles and Megan Griffith-Greene. Toronto: Pages Books, 2009. 54-55.

“Four Simpsons Controversies That Didn’t End in Lawsuits.” Mental Floss 18 May 2009. <http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/25661>.

“Multicultural Children’s Literature: A Selected Bibliography.” Multicultural Review 17.2 (2008): 90-91.

Blog: dr-karma.com