Hilary Schor

Hilary Schor is a Professor of English, Comparative Literature, and Law at the University of Southern California. She serves as Co-Director of the USC Center for Law, History and Culture, a joint initiative between USC Dornsife College and the Gould School of Law. Previously, she held leadership roles including Chair of Gender Studies, President of the Academic Senate, and Dean of Undergraduate Programs for the College of Letters, Arts & Sciences.

Her education includes a B.A. in British/American Literature from Scripps College (1980) and a Ph.D. in English from Stanford University (1986). Her research spans Victorian literature, feminist theory, law and literature, and narrative theory. She is particularly known for analyzing gender dynamics, legal frameworks in fiction, and adaptations of literary works into film.

Her recent projects include a study of Jews, women, and legal fictions in Victorian literature, and an exploration of time-travel films through a historical lens. Her work frequently intersects disciplines like cinema studies, legal theory, and cultural history. She has been invited to present at institutions such as Harvard University, Cornell University, and King’s College London.

Awarded prestigious fellowships including the Radcliffe Institute and Guggenheim Fellowships, her contributions to teaching were recognized with multiple USC Innovative Teaching Awards. She has developed innovative courses such as “Time Trials: Exhausting Time in the Novel and Narrative Cinema” and “Feminism and the Law.”