She completed her dissertation, “Through the Fog: The Lives of Anti-Racist Teachers,” in the department of Education Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in May of 2006 where her advisors included Stacey Lee, Gloria Ladson-Billings, and Mary Louise Gomez. Prior to coming to Middlebury she taught part time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for Educational Policy Studies department. Dr. Affolter has over 15 years experience teaching high school English and theatre while working for racial and social justice within the public schools.