Sii wad qodobkan - Armstrong wuxuu ku dhashay Winchester, Massachusetts. Waxay iska diiwaan galisay kulliyadda Hampshire ee Amherst, Massachusetts iyada oo damacsan inay noqoto farshaxan, laakiin waxay u wareegtay taariikhda farshaxanka iyo daraasaadka dhaqanka, iyadoo ka heshay shahaadada BA ee Daraasaadka Mareykanka 1974. Ka dib markii ay qalin jabisay, waxay u shaqeysay maamulaha deeqaha ee National Endowment for the Humanities (1976<unk>9) ka hor inta aysan galin dugsiga sare ee Jaamacadda California Berkeley si ay u hesho MA ee Taariikhda Farshaxanka 1982. Intii ay ku jirtay Berkeley, waxay ka shaqeysay kaaliyaha cilmi baarista ee Matxafka Farshaxanka Casriga ah ee San Francisco iyo kaaliyaha curatorka ee Matxafka Lowie ee Anthropology, halkaas oo ay ka qayb qaadatay daabacaadda 1983 <unk>The Anthropology of World Fairs: San Francisco's Panama Pacific International Exposition
sanadka 1915". Maqaal ku saleysan mawduuca shahaadada mastarkeeda, "Muuqaalka Mareykanka ee Satire, Farshaxanka Paul Cadmus ee 1930s", ayaa ka soo muuqday "Arts Magazine" bishii Maarso 1982.