Dale Vivienne Kent (born 1942) is an Australian historian who specialises in the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

. Born Dale Vivienne Butler in 1942, Kent was brought up in a

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices which are associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes in ...

family in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria. She graduated from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

with a BA in history and English in 1965 and worked as a tutor at that university in 1966 and 1967. She then moved to England to undertake a PhD at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

(1967–1971). Returning to Melbourne, she worked at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

from 1971–1984) progressing from lecturer to senior lecturer and finally reader of history. In 1987 she moved to the United States as professor of history at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

, a position she held until her retirement in 2009. As of 2021, Kent is Professor Emeritus of the University of California at Riverside and Honorary Professor at the University of Melbourne. Kent was elected a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australi ...

in 1984. Her memoir, ''The Most I Could Be'', was published by Melbourne University Press on 4 May 2021. Writing in the ''

Australian Book Review ''Australian Book Review'' is an Australian arts and literary review. Created in 1961, ''ABR'' is an independent non-profit organisation that publishes articles, reviews, commentaries, essays, and new writing. The aims of the magazine are " ...

,''

Jacqueline Kent Jacqueline Frances Kent (born 1947) is an Australian journalist, biographer and non-fiction writer. She is also known as Jacquie Kent, the name she used when writing young adult fiction in the 1990s and sometimes writes as Frances Cook. Career ...

(no relation) was disappointed that Kent shared little of her life as an academic.

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Dale 1942 births Living people University of Melbourne alumni Alumni of the University of London Academic staff of La Trobe University University of California, Riverside faculty Academic staff of the University of Melbourne Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Australian women historians Historians of the Renaissance