She is especially interested in using architectural history to study the construction of social identities and investigate movements for social, cultural, and political change. She earned a Ph.D. in architecture from Harvard University, an MA in art history from the Courtauld Institute at the University of London, and a BA in English and art history from Yale University. Her writings on Jane Jacobs, race, and urban renewal have appeared in the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians and the Journal of Urban History, and she has contributed entries to Robert Moses and the Modern City and the forthcoming Affordable Housing in New York. Her book project explores the design politics of civil-rights-era Boston, charting the impact of racial justice activism on the design and planning strategies of the period. Before coming to MICA as part-time faculty in 2014, she taught at Middlebury College.