Dent is currently an associate professor of feminist studies, history of consciousness, and legal studies in the humanities division at the
University of California, Santa Cruz. Her research interests include
Africana studies, legal theory, and popular culture. She is the editor of
Black Popular Culture (1992). In 2011, Dent served in a delegation to
Palestine, and she advocates for human rights in the region. She is sought-after internationally as a speaker and educator on Black Feminism and abolitionism. She has two forthcoming books,
Prison as a Border and Other Essays and
Anchored to the Real: Black Literature in the Wake of Anthropology, which will be published by
Duke University Press. Dent co-authored the 2022 book
Abolition. Feminism. Now.with Angela Davis, Erica Meiners, and
Beth Richie, which argues for a prison abolitionist vision of feminism. == Personal life ==