Zornitsa Keremidchieva received her B.A. in 1997 from the American University in Bulgaria where she double-majored in English and Business Administration and minored in Fine Arts. After some soul searching, she decided to continue her studies at the University in Maine, where she received an MA in English with a concentration in Composition, Rhetoric, and Pedagogy (1999) soon followed by a second Master's degree in Communication Studies (2001) with a focus on narrative studies. Keremidchieva received her PhD in Communication Studies with a concentration in rhetoric in 2007 from the University of Minnesota. She also completed two graduate minor programs: one in Feminist Studies and the other one in Rhetoric & Literacy Studies. Prior to coming to Macalester College, Prof. Keremidchieva taught at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. 

Prof. Keremidchieva’s research interests are in feminist rhetorical theory and history, especially in the intersection between women’s status and immigration politics in the United States. Her primary object of study is the U.S. Congress, particularly the ways in which gender has historically played a role in framing approaches to policy on various subjects—from U.S. foreign policy to domestic welfare policy. Additionally, she is researching the role of speech education for men and women in the Americanization campaigns of the 1920s. 

Prof. Keremidchieva is the recipient of the Gerald R. Miller Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award from the National Communication Association, the Marguerite Garden Jones and the Arle and Billy Haeberle Graduate Awards for excellence in communication research, as well as five top paper awards from various divisions and conventions of the National Communication Association. 

At Macalester, Prof. Keremidchieva teaches classes in Feminist Political Theory, Rhetorical Theory, Researching Political Communication, Argument & Advocacy, and Women’s Voices in Politics.