She received her B.A. from Wesleyan University (1986) and her Ph.D. from Yale University (1997). Her publications include "Cold War Orientalism: Asia in the Middlebrow Imagination, 1945-1961" (University of California Press, 2003) and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A Diasporic Reading" in Cinema Journal (2004). Her specializations include American studies, film studies, the literature and culture of America's encounters with Asia. She is currently writing a book about globalization of U.S. and Asian film industries.