Karen Petruska, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Communication Studies

Karen is from St. Louis, MO, and is a graduate of a Jesuit university. Incorporating a wide range of media into her classes, Karen gives students the tools they need to successfully navigate a world dominated by screens. In her research, she studies the...

Dr. Karen Petruska

Contact Information

  • Office Hours Spring 2024

    Monday: 11:00am - 12:00pm
    Tuesday: 10:00am - 11:00am
    Wednesday: 9:00am - 10:00am and 1:30pm - 2:30pm

  • (509) 313-6747

Education & Curriculum Vitae

Ph.D., Communication Studies, Georgia State University

M.A., English and American Literature, Washington University in St. Louis

Honors B.A., English, Theatre, and History, St. Louis University

 

Courses Taught

COMM 100: Communication and Speech

COMM 360: Media Aesthetics

COMM 370: Digital Culture & Networked Self

COMM 450: Justice and Arts of Civic Life

HONS 100: Multi-modal Communication


Karen is from St. Louis, MO, and is a graduate of a Jesuit university. Incorporating a wide range of media into her classes, Karen gives students the tools they need to successfully navigate a world dominated by screens. In her research, she studies the past and present of television, focusing in particular upon the business models that drive the industry. Karen has published in Creative Industries, Spectator, Popular Communication, and The Velvet Light Trap. She has also co-edited a special issue of Convergence, contributed to four anthologies, and published online through In Media Res, Flow, Antenna, and MIP Research.

Journal Articles

Petruska, Karen. “Television beyond the Networks: First-Run Syndication of Original Content in the 1970s.” Velvet Light Trap 75.4 (Spring 2015): 38-57.

Petruska, Karen. “The Digital Television Transition, Consumer Power, and the Limits of Cultural Citizenship.” Creative Industries Journal 7.1 (2014): 19-32.

Petruska, Karen and John Vanderhoef. “TV That Watches You: Data Collection and the Connected Living Room.” Spectator 34.2 (Fall 2014): 33-42.

Book Chapters

Petruska, Karen. “Amazon: Where Information is Entertainment.” Networks to Netflix: A Guide to Changing Channels. Edited by Derek Johnson. New York: Routledge (Forthcoming 2017).

Petruska, Karen and Faye Woods. “Traveling Without a Passport: ‘Original’ Streaming Content in the Transatlantic Distribution Ecosystem.” Transatlantic TV. Edited by Matt Hills, Michele Hilmes, and Roberta Pearson. Oxford: Oxford UP (Forthcoming 2017).

Perren, Alisa & Karen Petruska. “Big Media, Small Screens: Rethinking Content Production in Digital Hollywood.” Moving Data: The iPhone and My Media. Eds. Pelle Snickars & Patrick Vonderau. New York: Columbia UP, 2012. 104-123.

Petruska, Karen. “Crossing Over: Network Transition, Critical Reception and Supernatural Longevity.” TV Goes to Hell: An Unofficial Roadmap of “Supernatural.” Eds. Stacey Abbott and David Lavery. Toronto: ECW Press, 2011. 219-229.

Book Review

Petruska, Karen. “Television as Digital Media.” Eds. James Bennett & Niki Strange. Popular Communication 9.3 (2011): 229-231.