Karen began working as Director of the New Opportunity School for Women at Lees-McRae College in November of 2011. Most recently, she had been the Director of Education at the Barter Theatre in Virginia, where she had previously spent six years as a resident actor and director. She has a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Hampshire College in Massachusetts, and an M.A. in Liberal Studies from East Tennessee State University, where she studied Appalachian culture with an emphasis on diversity and stereotyping in Appalachia. Her independently produced film, This is Not the South, written and directed by her husband, Dr. Derek Davidson, won numerous awards at film festivals. She is also an associate editor for the IDEA website, and specializes in gathering and contributing recordings of various Appalachian dialects.