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Karen Robert is a Professor of History at St. ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½, where she teaches courses in Latin American and World History, research methods, and global automobility. A scholar of modern Argentina, her research addresses themes of material culture, labour, human rights, and memory.

Robert’s recent book, Driving Terror: Labor, Violence, and Justice in Cold War Argentina (University of New Mexico Press, 2025), focuses on labour repression and corporate complicity with Argentina’s last military dictatorship through a focus on the Ford Motor Company. It tells the story of a group of Ford autoworkers who were ‘disappeared’ and tortured for their union activism in 1976, and who fought a decades-long legal battle against their former employer. The book also traces the symbolic evolution of the Ford Falcon sedan, a beloved family car that morphed into a tool of state terrorism under military rule, when it was used in thousands of similar kidnapping operations. Robert also translated Memories of Buenos Aires: Signs of State Terrorism in Argentina (University of Massachusetts Press, 2013), a comprehensive guide to hundreds of memory sites relating to the dictatorship years.

Robert has also dedicated herself to innovative pedagogy throughout her career. She helped build the ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ history department’s unique World History curriculum, and she served as campus Remote Teaching Coordinator during the COVID lockdowns. She has trained and experimented for over a decade in the field of contemplative pedagogy, applying mindfulness practices in her classroom to support students’ cognitive skills and wellbeing. In 2023 she co-edited Presence in the Online World: A Contemplative Perspective and Practice Guide for Educators (Rowman & Littlefield).