She is the author of The Azerbaijani Turks: Power and Identity Under Russian Rule and numerous articles on Azerbaijan and Central Asia. She is past president of the Association for the Advancement of Central Asian Research. She conducted research on the history andof Azerbaijan duringonths in Baku as an exchange fellow with the International Research and Exchanges Board during. Altstadt. in Russian language and area studies from the University of Illinois and.h-D. in history from the University of Chicago.