She was awarded her Ph.D. in American History at New York University. Her thesis focused on the Jewish summer camp movement in North America in the 1920’s and 1930’s. She has taught in the United States at New York University; and in the Netherlands at Amsterdam University and University College Utrecht. Her fields of teaching and research include the history of ethnicity, gender, women and media. She has designed and led undergraduate courses and research projects on topics in social and cultural histories in North America from the Colonial Era through the present; and on The Netherlands within the context of WWII. She has also supervised M.A. theses on a range of topics in American Studies.