UC Davis Study Abroad, Quarter Abroad Ireland Program, Header Image

Quarter Abroad Ireland - Instructor

Internships and Writing in Dublin

Karma Waltonen

Instructor Photo
University Writing Program

Karma Waltonen has taught at UC Davis since 2000. In 2015, she won the Academic Federation Excellence in Teaching Award. She teaches a variety of writing and literature classes, including courses on science fiction, Shakespeare, Writing in Film, and Writing in Social Justice. A stand-up comic, she also teaches courses on writing and performing stand-up comedy and mentors the university's stand-up comedy clubs.

She's discovered the secret to a great professional life is to work on the texts and ideas she most loves, which explains why her second book on The Simpsons recently came out. Other recent publications are on time travel in Star Trek, postmodernism in The X-Files, sexuality in Sherlock, religion in Doctor Who, and apocalypses in Margaret Atwood’s works (she's the former President of the Margaret Atwood Society and the editor of its peer-reviewed journal. Do you want to talk about The Handmaid's Tale adaptation? Good—so does she!).

A Message to Students and Parents

"Studying abroad opens the world for us in wonderful ways. We discover our resilience and independence while also forming a community of life-long friends. Dublin is the perfect city to explore, with its welcoming people, its neighborhood pubs, its award-winning museums, its literary legacy, and its rich history. The mythological Irish sirens (murdúchanns) will also lure us into the gorgeous countryside, into the famous Trinity college library, which houses The Book of Kells, and into legendary keeps and castles.

The traditional Irish greeting is céad míle fáilte, literally "a hundred thousand welcomes." You're very welcome to join me on this amazing adventure."

Photo of person looking through Kilmainham Gaol
Karma at the Kilmainham Gaol. Photo courtesy: Karma Waltonen.
Photo of a person standing next to a painting in a museum.
Karma with Alfie Byrne, Dublin's most famous Mayor, at the Little Museum of Dublin. Photo courtesy: Karma Waltonen.