She specialises in ancient Greek literature (epic poetry, tragedy, and comedy), women and gender in antiquity, and the reception of classical drama.
Her doctoral thesis was entitled 'Ritual Irony in the Bacchae and Other Late Euripidean Plays'.
[4] In Spring 2008 she was the 94th Sather Professor of Classical Literature at the University of California, Berkeley; her Sather Lectures focused on the restaging of Greek tragedies in America, and the ways in which modern productions of these plays explored themes of contemporary concern including slavery, race, the status of women, immigration, and identity.
[7] She is currently finishing a book on Euripides' Hecuba, coordinating an issue of the Proceedings of the Modern Language Association with Jean Howard on Tragedy, and working on tragic choruses.
A conference, 'Female Agents: Gender, Drama, Reception, Performance', will be held in her honour 31 March-1 April 2023 at Barnard College.