1979—1980年,她曾作为首批美国留学生在北京大学中文系学习。除了历史研究外,她还写作诗歌和短篇小说,著有8本专著和5本诗集,包括获奖的《在断裂的时间之河架桥:论中国人和犹太人的文化记忆》(Bridge Across Broken Time: Chinese and Jewish Cultural Memory)、《中国启蒙运动:知识分子与五四遗产》(The Chinese Enlightenment: Intellectuals and the Legacy of the May Fourth Movement of 1919)、《张申府访谈录》(Time for Telling Truth is Running Out: Conversations with Zhang Shenfu)、《鸣鹤园》(Place and Memory in the Singing Crane Garden)。诗集包括《记忆之园》(In the Garden of Memory)、《园林短憩》(Brief Rest in the Garden of Flourishing Grace)、《记忆之凿》(Chisel of Remembrance)、《灵》(Ancestral Intelligence: Improvisations and Logographs)。