She received her Ph.D. from Princeton University, a student of William C. Jordan.
Her scholarly interests are in the history of medieval Italy, religious cultures, and women and gender studies.
Her first book was awarded the John Gilmary Shea Prize from the American Catholic Historical Association[2] and the prize for the first book in the field of history from the Phi Alpha Theta society.
She has held fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, the American Academy in Rome, Villa I Tatti, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University, among others.
[3] In 2020 she was elected a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America.