She completed her graduate studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Russian History in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1999. She taught at the European University at St. Petersburg, the University of Michigan, and Harvard University before coming to the University of Washington. Her research interests focus on the history of empire, nationalism, and religion in late tsarist Russia. Her book, The Muslim Question and Russian Imperial Governance examines how Russia dealt with its Muslim subjects in the late 19th and early 20th century as growing nationalism was transforming the empire’s relationship with its many different ethnic and religious communities. She teaches courses on the history of imperial Russia from 1700 to 1917, the history of St. Petersburg/ Leningrad from 1703 to 1991, and on empire and nationalism in Russian history.