 A scholar of modern German history, Professor Applegate has previously taught history at Smith College and the University of Rochester, where she served as director of the Susan B. Anthony Center for Women's Studies and held an Affiliate Faculty position in the Department of Musicology at the Eastman School of Music.Applegate received her bachelor of arts degree Summa Cum Laude from Bryn Mawr College, majoring in history at Haverford College through the two schools' longstanding cooperative relationship.She earned her PhD in German history from Stanford University in 1987, where she focused on the development of German national and regional identity in the 19th and 20th centuries.