She received her Ph.D. in history of art (with distinction) from Columbia University. Her research focuses on manuscript illumination of the later Middle Ages, as well as early print culture. She is particularly interested in broadening the study of text-image relationships to include their intersections with other forms of material culture. Her current book project, "Timeless Texts, Timely Illustrations: Origins and the Illumination of the Middle English Literary Canon," is a detailed and innovative study of the emergence of England's first literary canon as both a visual and a linguistic event.