Prior to Penn, she served as Associate Professor of French at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is the author of two books on French fiction and literature. Her current research interests include Nineteenth- and twentieth-century French Fiction, critical theory, science and literature, detective fiction, and nouveau roman literature. Her forthcoming book explores scientific discourses in modern French crime fiction. She is currently co-chair of the Nineteenth-Century French Studies Association.