She has taught at UMD since 1988, after teaching briefly at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the University of Iowa, and Illinois State University. She holds an MA and Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Iowa, and a BA in Speech Communication from the University of Arizona. Dr. Petersen-Perlman's dissertation topic was "Texaco's Support of the Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts." She has published on this topic as well as "Radio Comes to the Farm", "Sitcom Husbands", using media in the classroom,