She completed her B.A. in Archaeology of the Levant at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
She received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
She is a full professor of Anthropology at Saint Xavier University (SXU) in Chicago where she also served as Chairperson of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice and the director of the
Middle Eastern Studies Program at the University.
As of January 2023, she assumed the position of Vice President Designate of Academic Affairs at Bethlehem University, Palestine.