Judith Keyler studied German linguistics, literature and philosophy. Before coming to Smith, she taught at the at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Tongji University Shanghai, Chinese University Hong Kong, the University of Connecticut and the University of Rhode Island.

Keyler's current pedagogical research focuses on integrating the substance and language of science, technology and environmental issues into her course work at all levels, as well as the teaching of German as a foreign language through contemporary linguistic models. Her other scholarly fields are historic Germanic linguistics, the syntax of New High German and modern German, and foreign language acquisition.