As a linguist and science communicator, Dr. Karen Stollznow combines academic research with public engagement, exploring how language shapes our beliefs, identities, and everyday lives.
Academic Research
Visiting Scholar
Karen is a Visiting Scholar at the University of Colorado, Boulder, with the Department of Linguistics and Culture, Language, and Social Practice (CLASP). During her time at CU, she is working on two book projects for Cambridge University Press. The first, Beyond Words: How We Learn, Use, and Lose Language, is an accessible introduction to psycholinguistics, covering topics from first and second language acquisition to language processing, production, and disorders. Her second project, Women versus Women: Unpacking the Language of Internalized Sexism, investigates how internalized misogyny and sexist stereotypes are embedded and perpetuated through everyday language.
Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research
The Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research (GCSCR) is dedicated to increasing our understanding of current challenges facing the modern world. Through the application of innovative humanities and social science research, incorporating the knowledge of academics from a broad range of interrelated disciplines, the centre is at the cutting edge of humanities and social science discourse. Karen is a Research Fellow with the GCSCR. In this capacity she has conducted research into discrimination and prejudice in language, feminism, and women’s health.
Building Blocks of Meaning
The Building Blocks of Meaning project (BBoM) investigated how complex meanings are built up from more basic building blocks, and to what extent basic meanings differ between different languages, cultures, and geographical zones. It is based on the theory and methodology of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach. The project was headquartered at Griffith University and led by Professor Cliff Goddard. Dr. Karen was the Senior Researcher and Project Manager.
Script Encoding Initiative
The Script Encoding Initiative (SEI) is a project in the UC Berkeley Department of Linguistics devoted to the preparation of formal proposals for the encoding of scripts and script elements not yet currently supported in Unicode. Karen is an alumnus of the project. As a Postdoctoral Researcher for the SEI, she conducted research into ancient and modern writing systems.
Independent Research
Psychology
Dr. Karen also studies aspects of psychology, including psycholinguistics, the fascinating connection between language and the mind. She explores how we learn language, how we use it every day, and what happens when we lose it. Her work looks at the ways language and mental health are linked, including how we communicate about emotions, identity, and personality. Karen writes a regular column for Psychology Today, where she explores the role of language in how we think, feel, and relate to others.
History and Folklore
Dr. Karen is a co-host of the award-winning Monster Talk podcast, alongside producer Blake Smith. Together, they investigate the folklore, history, and real science behind legendary creatures and cryptids, from Bigfoot to the Loch Ness Monster and far beyond. Bringing curiosity and critical thinking to every episode, they unpack how culture, belief, and storytelling fuel our enduring fascination with monsters.
Karen has spent years investigating paranormal and anomalous claims through a scientific lens. Her research covers a wide spectrum of mysterious phenomena, from demons and exorcisms to miraculous religious experiences, ghosts and hauntings, UFOs and extraterrestrials, psychics and mediums, and countless other extraordinary beliefs and practices.
