She has a Ph. D from UCLA. In addition to courses in her field she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in cultural theory and methodology of art history. Her research and publications have focused on pilgrimage cults and Romanesque art (including the development of reliquaries and monumental sculpted portals) especially in France between AD 1000-1200 with a special interest in exchanges between lay and monastic cultures as they are mediated through visual imagery. She has published on the Cult of Sainte Foy at Conques, on the art historian, Meyer Schapiro and on the 12th c. portal sculptures of Souillac in France. A recent project is dealing with the role of jewels and treasure in medieval art.