Dr. Karen Palmer is an English Professor and the General Education Program Director at Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona.

Karen earned her BA in English from Northern Arizona University in 1998, her MA in Rhetoric and Composition from NAU in 2000, her PhD in Women’s Studies from Trinity Theological Seminary in 2015, and her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from NAU in 2024.

Karen has been teaching composition at the college level since 1999. She has designed curriculum for and taught courses ranging from developmental writing to advanced, upper division composition at community colleges and universities across the state of Arizona. Her work with students inspired her to create The Worry Free Writer, an OER textbook for composition; Diving Into Rhetoric, an OER Introduction to Rhetoric text; and Say Her Name, a text for studying women in literature, and More Than Words, an OER Introduction to Linguistics text. Karen also co-created The RoughWriter’s Guide, YC’s official writing handbook, with Sandi Van Lieu. (Article)

In addition to the OER textbooks Karen created for her students, she is also the author of two books written for women building a business. Stemming from her own involvement in network marketing, Karen teamed up with two of her mentors to create a series of books speaking to women from a variety of stages in life. License to Play and License to Dream are the result of that collaboration.

Karen believes that every human being has a unique purpose on this planet–something that they are supposed to do to make the world a better place. Her passion is helping people find their purpose and giving them the tools they need to achieve it.