Kathryn R. Kent

Kathryn R. Kent is the J. Leland Miller Professor of American History, Literature, and Eloquence at Williams College. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Duke University (1996) and specializes in late 19th-20th century U.S. literature, queer theory, and gender studies.

• Education: B.A. Williams College (1988), M.A. Duke University (1993), Ph.D. Duke University (1996)

Her research focuses on queer modernism, lesbian identity, gender normativity, and cultural histories of Girl Scouting. She has published extensively on Emily Dickinson, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick.

Recent publications reveal sustained engagements with

• Queer sentimentalism (Cambridge History of Queer American Literature)
• Spinster poetics (Oxford Handbook to Emily Dickinson)
• Queer counterpublic spaces (Women and Performance journal)

She has won prestigious awards including the Choice Award from the American Library Association. Her editorial work includes co-editing the special issue "Feminisms and Youth Cultures" for Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.