Brittany Shields graduated from New York University’s Draper Interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Humanities and Social Thought in 2008, where she focused on Science Studies. Her Master’s thesis was titled A Sociological and Historical Study of the Early Development of New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, a project which she has continued to research while at Penn. Prior to her graduate studies, Brittany received her BA in Mass Communications from Miami University in 2002. She spent several years working in Los Angeles as an Associate Producer in television production.