 Studying under the philosopher Herbert Marcuse, a prominent figure in the Frankfurt School, Davis became increasingly engaged in far-left politics.Returning to the U.S., she studied at the University of California, San Diego before moving to East Germany, where she completed a doctorate at the Humboldt University of Berlin.Back in the U.S., she joined the Communist Party and became involved in numerous causes, including the second-wave feminist movement, the Black Panther Party, and the campaign against the Vietnam War.