She received her Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies from the University of California at Berkeley in 2006. She is currently working on a book entitled Domestic Contradictions: Forced Labor and Gendered Citizenship from Reconstruction to Workfare that looks comparatively at historical and contemporary efforts of the U.S. welfare state to regulate women of color’s labor and sexuality. Her research and teaching interests include examining the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and class in such contemporary issues as globalization, immigration, the welfare system, the criminal justice system, and violence against women.