Dr. Kirsch specializes in late antique Latin poetry and its renegotiation of classical expectations. Her dissertation was entitled The Soul at War in Late Antiquity: The Image of Spiritual Combat in the Poetry of Prudentius and her subsequent work has explored late antique reconfigurations of monstrosity, identity, civil war, and metaphorical violence. Her other research interests include paleography and pedagogy, prompting her participating in the California Rare Book Summer School in Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, the Paideia Institute’s Living Latin in New York City program, and the American Academy in Rome’s Winter School in Latin Paleography and Codicology.

While a graduate student at CUA, Dr. Kirsch served on the Greek and Latin Online Education Committee, the Greek and Latin Graduate Travel Funding Committee, and the Homerathon Committee. She is a current member of the CAMWS School Awards Committee, and has taught courses in Greek, Latin, and mythology.