Central to her research is the power of thought in the making of history, along with the logic by which human society operates. She is interested in exploring remarkable achievements in Asia from a world-historical point of view. Her areas of interest are Japanese intellectual history, samurai ethics, Tokugawa learning and private scholars, the Meiji Restoration, Japanese feminist thought, women's activism in Asia, matrilineal societies, and great classical traditions in modern contexts. Toward an Ancient Future: Selected Writings of Takamure Itsue, Japanese Feminist is forthcoming from Columbia University Press. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2002, and her dissertation is 'Neither Past Nor Present: The Pursuit of Classical Antiquity in Early Modern and Modern Japan.'