She received her Ph.D. from the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto. She has held positions as a research fellow at the Institute for Korean Studies, Yonsei University and Visiting Scholar at the Institute for the Study of Religion at Sogang University. She has worked as a freelance translator for the Academy of Korean Studies at Seoul National University. She has been the recipient of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Kathryn W. Davis Fellowship for Peace, Korea Foundation's Rising Stars Program, Connaught Fellowship, Samsung Fellowship, and the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies Fellowship. At Hiram, she teaches World History and Asian history. Her recent research areas of interest include post ’45 history of human rights and genocide, indigenous rituals and community health.