Over the years, she has taught literature; advanced composition; technical writing; news, editorial, and feature writing; and American journalism history. Her teaching, scholarship, and professional background meet at the intersections of English and Media Studies. Dr. Shaker spent five years in television news before earning her Ph.D. in English from Case Western Reserve University, where she specialized in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century Anglophone literature. Her book, Coloring Locals: Racial Formation in Kate Chopin’s Youth’s Companion Stories (2003), and articles combine her interests by focusing on the periodical fiction of nineteenth-century American author, Kate Chopin.