She earned her B.A. from Kansas State University and her Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame; despite this, she does not follow college football. She works in the interdisciplinary field of Victorian Studies, and teaches literature courses ranging from introductory General Education classes to specialized graduate seminars in British Victorian Literature. Her research interests include religion and literature and Victorian children’s literature. Her articles have appeared in Victorian Review, Women’s Writing, and Victorians Institute Journal. When she has time to read outside of her academic interests, she reads murder mysteries, urban fantasy, young adult novels, manga in translation . . . and the same handful of picture books over and over again.