Kelly Emerson studied History at Lafayette College and Philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, and received her Ph.D. in Medieval History from The Johns Hopkins University in 2002.
She has taught at MICA since 2011 as an adjunct professor teaching the Age of Shakespeare. She has organized and given symposia on Shakespeare scholarship at the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, a professional Shakespeare theatre company based in Howard County and Baltimore City. She also serves on the Board of the Waldorf School of Baltimore.