Sarah Fischer earned her Ph.D. in Middle Eastern Politics from American University (Washington, D.C.) in 2013. Her dissertation examined women's relationship to veiling and secularim in contemporary Turkey and was based on nearly 200 interviews conducted with veiled women, politicians, and political analysts.

Fischer is the recipient of numerous highly competitive fellowships and scholarships, including a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Grant, a Boren Fellowship, two Critical Languge Scholarships, and an American Political Science Association Grant.

Fischer currently teaches at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, and is working on developing a book manuscript based on her dissertation.