Her research interests in Greco-Roman civilization focus on women, religion, and Roman provincial administration, to name a few. Funded by a William Penn Doctoral Fellowship and a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities, she earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Ancient History from the University of Pennsylvania in 2001. Before that, she completed her undergraduate work as a John T. Caldwell Scholar at North Carolina State University, graduating as valedictorian with a B.A. in History. Her doctoral thesis was entitled Magic Accusations Against Women in the Greco-Roman World from the First to the Fifth Centuries CE.