Kate Flint

Kate Flint is the Provost Professor of Art History and English at the University of Southern California (USC) Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, where she has served since 2011. She previously held positions at Bristol, Oxford, and Rutgers Universities. Her academic roles include Chair of the Department of Art History at USC (2012–2015, 2018–2021, and 2023).

Educated at Oxford University (PhD in English/Art History, 1985) and the Courtauld Institute (MA in Art History, 1977), Flint specializes in Victorian and early 20th-century cultural, visual, and literary history. Her research bridges art and literature, focusing on transatlantic exchanges, environmental aesthetics, and theories of perception. Notable themes include the interplay between text and image, the history of photography, and the sociopolitical dimensions of visual culture.

Flint’s work interrogates how visual and textual practices shaped Victorian and Edwardian understandings of identity, environment, and modernity. Her publications include anthologies like The Broadview Anthology of British Literature and influential essays on figures like Gerard Manley Hopkins and Virginia Woolf. She has also explored the ecological imagination in literature and art, addressing topics like lichen, fireflies, and climate change through an interdisciplinary lens.

Her scholarship consistently emphasizes interdisciplinary methods, connecting material culture, sensory experience, and historical context. While no specific awards are listed, her prolific output and editorial contributions underscore her role as a leading figure in 19th-century studies. Flint’s advising and teaching bridge Art History and English departments, reflecting her dual disciplinary expertise.