Dr. Taliaferro holds a Ph.D. in Government and Islamic Studies from Georgetown University. She has previously taught humanities and Great Books at Villanova University and held research fellowships at the James Madison Program at Princeton University, as well as Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Doha, Qatar. Taliaferro was awarded a 2011 NSEP/Boren grant for Arabic studies and research on human rights curriculum in Morocco. Prior to her academic career, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 2006-2008 in rural Morocco