Martha Karnes, Ph.D.

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. My research interests primarily include rhetorics of health and science, technical writing, and feminist rhetorics. I’m concerned with the ways people communicate about and make sense of complex topics that are important to them–their health and medicine, science, and the environment. I teach courses in rhetorical theory, research methods, medical rhetoric and writing, and environmental writing. As of 2027, I also direct the graduate program in Professional & Technical Writing at UA Little Rock.

I received a PhD in Rhetoric & Writing at the University of Texas at Austin, an MA in Professional Communication at Clemson University, and a BA in English at Christopher Newport University.

I am a lover of live music, an avid crocheter, and a frequent traveler.

• Ph.D in Rhetoric & Writing, University of Texas at Austin
• M.A. in Professional Communication, Clemson University
• B.A. in English, Christopher Newport University
  • Minors in Leadership and Spanish

Rhetoric of health and medicine; rhetorical theory; technical writing; feminist theory; visual rhetoric; research methods; science and environmental communication.

Articles, Book Chapters, and Open Access Scholarship:

• Karnes, Martha Sue. “Visual Resistance and The New Woman: A Feminist Visual Rhetorical Analysis of Hard Labor.” Peitho, vol 28, no. 2, January 2026.
• Karnes, Martha Sue and Cynthia Nahrwold. “Then and Now… And Down the Road: Editing & Publishing at UA Little Rock.” Programmatic Perspectives, vol 16, no. 2, 19 January 2026.
• Karnes, Martha Sue and Josh Rea. “Refusing Generative AI as Accessibility in Writing Studies: A Reflection on Past and Present Writing Discourses.” Unprompted: Pedagogies, Theories, and Futures of GenAI Refusal in Rhetoric and Writing Studies, edited by Maggie Fernandes and Megan McIntyre (accepted for publication).
• Gray, Kat, Martha Sue Karnes, and Charlotte Kupsh. “From Scarcity to Abundance: Building Communities of Care Among Job Market Candidates.’” Inclusive Hiring and Job Market Practices in Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing Studies, edited by Claire Lutkewitte and Juliette Kitchens (accepted for publication).
• Majdik, Zoltan P., S. Scott Graham, Jade Shiva Edward, Sabrina N. Rodriguez, Martha S. Karnes., Jared T. Jenson, Joshua B. Barbour, Justin Rousseau. “Sample size considerations for fine-tuning Large Language Models for Named Entity Recognition Tasks: A methodological study.” Journal of Medical Internet Research AI, vol 3, no. 1, 2024, http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/52095.
• Graham, S. Scott, Nandini Sharma, Martha S. Karnes, Zoltan P. Majdik, Joshua B. Barbour, Justin F. Rousseau. “A Content Analysis of Self-Reported Industry Relationships in Biomedical Research.” American Journal of Bioethics- Empirical Bioethics, vol. 14, no. 2, 28 Dec. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1080/23294515.2022.2160509.
• Graham, S. Scott, Martha S. Karnes, Jared T. Jenson, Nandini Sharma, Joshua B. Barbour, Zoltan P. Majdik, & Justin Rousseau. “Evidence for Stratified Conflicts of Interest Policies in Research Contexts: A Methodological Review.” British Medical Journal Open, vol. 12, no. 9, 19 Sept. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063501.
• Dadugblor, Stephen, Hannah Foltz, Tristin Hooker, Martha Sue Karnes, Nathan Kreuter, Mark Garrett Longaker, Bethany Radcliffe, Kevin Schaeffner, & Kiara Walker. “Archiving our Own: The Digital Archive of Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Texas at Austin, 1975-1995.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 73, no. 4, 2022, pp. 774-805.
• Hooker, Tristin Brynn and Martha Sue Karnes. “More Than Serious: Medicine, Games, and Care.” Making Games Matter: Games and Materiality, special issue of Computers and Composition, vol. 65, 2022.
• Hooker, Tristin Brynn and Martha Sue Karnes. “The Costs of Purposeful Games: When Building a Tool Means Building a Market.” The American Journal of Bioethics, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 59-60.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock (2024- present)

Graduate Courses

• RHET 71573   Proposal Writing Seminar (Spring 2026; Fall 2026)
• RHET 71173   Rhetorical Theory (Spring 2026)
• RHET 70073   Introduction to Research Methods (Fall 2025; Fall 2026)
• RHET 5346     Topics in Rhetoric: Medical & Science Writing (Spring 2025)

Undergraduate/Graduate Courses

• ENGL 44673/ RHET 54673 Topics in Technical Communication: Environmental Writing (Summer 2026)
• RHET 4347/5347 Topics in Nonfiction: Writing & Healing (Summer 2025)

Undergraduate Courses

• ENGL 40173   Theories of Rhetoric and Writing (Fall 2025)
• ENGL 10203   Composition II (Fall 2025; Spring 2026; Summer 2026)
• RHET 3315     Persuasive Writing (Spring 2025)
• RHET 4301     Theories of Rhetoric and Writing (Fall 2024)
• RHET 1312     Composition II (Fall 2024)