Karen A. Foss papers , 1956-2019

Dr. Karen A. Foss is a rhetorical scholar and Regents professor emeritus of communication and journalism at the University of New Mexico.

Karen Ann Foss and her twin sister, Sonja K. Foss, were born in Portland, Oregon, on January 26, 1950, to Lyle W. Foss and Hazel M. Foss. Foss grew up in Eugene, Oregon, where her mother was the director of the Widowed Services Program at the University of Oregon. Foss earned a B.A. in romance languages (Spanish and French) from the University of Oregon in 1972, an M.A. in speech (rhetoric and public address) from the University of Oregon in 1973, and a Ph.D. in speech and dramatic arts (rhetoric and public address) from the University of Iowa in 1976. Foss married Stephen W. Littlejohn on March 17, 1979.

Foss taught at Humboldt State University from 1976-1993, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst from 1984-1985, and the University of New Mexico from 1993-2015. At Humboldt State University, she served as the Women's Studies Program Leader from 1978-1980 and 1989-1992. At the University of New Mexico, she served as the Women Studies Director from 1995-1997, Interim Women Studies Director in 2005 and 2010-2011, Department Chair of Communication and Journalism from 1997-2000 and 2013-2015, and Graduate Director of Communication and Journalism from 2001-2004. She was a Senior Specialist Fulbright Scholar at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark in March 2007. In 2015, she became an associate at Taos Institute of Social Construction.

Foss's research interests include feminist perspectives on communication, rhetorical theory and criticism, social movements and social change, the construction of gender, the incorporation of marginalized voices into communication theory, and the reconceptualization of communication theories and concepts from feminist perspectives. Foss's work has been instrumental in advancing the study of women and gender in the communication discipline. She has written and contributed to many articles, book chapters, and books, including Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric (1985), Women Speak: The Eloquence of Women's Lives (1991), Inviting Transformation: Presentational Speaking for a Changing World (1994), Feminist Rhetorical Theories (1999), Readings in Feminist Rhetorical Theory (2004), Encyclopedia of Communication Theory (2009), COLOR Up to Create the Life You Want to Live (2018), and Theories of Human Communication, 12th Edition (2021). From 1981-1988, Foss served as the coeditor, with her sister Sonja Foss, who is also a rhetorical scholar, of the journal Women's Studies in Communication.

Foss has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Paul Boase Prize for Scholarship in communication studies from Ohio University in 2015, the Robert J. Kibler Memorial Service Award from the National Communication Association in 2011, the Gender Scholar of the Year from the Southern States Communication Association in 2005, and the Francine Merritt Award in 2002 for mentoring women in the communication discipline.