Karen Zipor, from Ashburn, Virginia, has always been enthralled by the arts: acting in shows throughout high school, dancing on a competitive team, and studying studio art at the Regional Governor's School for the Arts. Since then, Karen has directed and choreographed many high school, college, and community theater productions. She won an NCA Cappies Award for Creativity for choreographing her high school production of Pippin, and most recently, she choreographed Kiss Me, Kate with the First Year Players at UVA. During her first year at UVA, she acted in FYP's production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Edwin Drood) and Into the Woods (Florinda). But most importantly, Karen considers herself to be an interdisciplinary artist, especially as she's a double major in Drama and Computer Science. An intriguing combination, she knows, but the skills of each discipline cross more often than not. In the Drama Department, she's currently working alongside Mona Kasra, the Assistant Professor for Digital Media Design, on a year-long research project experimenting with Virtual Reality. Additionally, Karen did work both onstage and offstage on UVA's production of She Kills Monsters; Karen both performed as Tilly and assisted Mona with the Video Projection Design. Thanks to her lifelong creative passion and technological savviness, Karen is excited and honored to be part of the Miller Arts Scholars program, where research and collaboration are encouraged!