Nancy Kalow received an AB from Harvard University and an MA in Folklore from UNC-Chapel Hill. She was awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship at UNC's University Center for International Studies. She is a folklorist and filmmaker who has taught at Duke's Center for Documentary Studies since 2000.

Her video documentary, Sadobabies, was the winner of a Gold Hugo at the Chicago Film Festival and the Special Jury Trophy at the San Francisco Film Festival. She has been co- chair of the Selection Committee of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival since 2003. Her e-book, Visual Storytelling: The Digital Video Documentary, was published by CDS in 2011.

She has completed three years of Arabic language instruction at Duke and has worked with refugees from Sudan as a volunteer for Church World Service-RDU.