Her research interests include colonialism, popular literature, national identity, and folk culture and belief. She received a B.S. in Biology from the University of Michigan, her M.A. in History from the University of Cincinnati, and she did her doctoral work at UCLA. She teaches courses on a wide range of subjects from World History to Magic and Belief. Among her publications are a recent book on seventeenth century English travelers to Europe and the Ottoman Empire. She joined the Arts and Sciences Faculty in 2009.