Karen Carter

Program Specialist, Office of Fellowships and Internships

Work Phone: 202-633-7059

Karen Carter has been a Program Specialist at OFI since May 2013. Her focus is on outreach and recruitment for internships and fellowships, with a particular emphasis on diversity. Prior to the Smithsonian, Karen worked for almost 20 years at George Mason University where she taught in the School of Integrative Studies (SIS), an undergraduate interdisciplinary degree program, as well as in Women and Gender Studies. Karen served as the Director of Experiential Learning in SIS, where she oversaw Mason’s Center for Field Studies and the SIS Internship Program. She also served as the Associate Director of Mason’s Women and Gender Studies Program.

Karen holds a B.A. in Psychology, a M.A. in Liberal Studies (emphasis on Philosophy and Museum Studies), and is A.B.D. (withdrawn) in the Cultural Studies Ph.D. program, all from Mason. She is a registered yoga instructor with Yoga Alliance and is a certified Reiki practitioner. Committed to well-being practices, Karen leads yoga and meditation classes for various Smithsonian youth programming as well as for SI staff.

An (almost) native of Washington, DC, Karen grew up in a Smithsonian-loving, museum-junkie family, going to SI exhibits and programs since childhood. In her spare time, she loves learning new things, and traveling with her husband, Tom — the more rugged, the better.