Her primary research interests include race, sexuality, gender, and class in American art, with particular emphasis on the role that visual culture plays in cultural conflicts. She lectures widely and has published numerous articles and books, including, Seeing the Unspeakable: The Art of Kara Walker and Portraits of a People: Picturing African Americans in the Nineteenth Century. Prior to her position at the University of Pennsylvania, Shaw taught at Harvard University and earned fellowships through the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and the Ford Foundation. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University.