Marjorie Becker

Marjorie Becker is a Professor of History and English at the University of Southern California's Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. She specializes in Latin American history, particularly the gendered politics of the Mexican Revolution, resistance movements, and intersections of history with cultural and literary analysis. Her work explores themes of gender, ethnicity, class, and the poetics of Octavio Paz, while employing innovative archival and oral historical methods.

• Education
  • Ph.D., Yale University (1988)
  • M.Phil., Yale University (1983)
  • M.A., Yale University (1982)
  • M.A., Duke University (1980)

Becker’s research focuses on Latin American history, with particular emphasis on Mexican women’s resistance movements, the cultural legacy of the Mexican Revolution, and the application of magical realism in historical analysis. Her interdisciplinary approach combines archival research, narrative innovation, and poetic reflection to uncover marginalized voices in history, especially those of illiterate and indigenous women.

Her recent publications analyze how historical trauma, gendered violence, and cultural memory intersect in Mexican history. Using feminist and decolonial methodologies, her work challenges traditional historiography by centering embodied experiences and marginalized narratives, including studies of sexual assault survivors and agrarian struggles.

Becker’s awards include the USC Mellon Mentoring Award for Undergraduate Students (2011-2012), Fulbright and ACLS Fellowships, and multiple book award nominations. She has collaborated with institutions like Caltech, the University of California San Diego, and the Colegio de Michoacán, and her teaching encompasses graduate training programs and courses on magical realism.

• Scientific Awards
  • USC Mellon Mentoring Award for Undergraduate Students (2011-2012)
  • Fulbright Award (1989-1990)
  • American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship (1988-1989)
  • National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship (1989 Summer)
  • California Book Awards nomination (2010)
  • Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Award nomination (2010)

Becker has mentored students through the USC Mellon program and secured grants like the Arts and Letters Research Grant for her course on magical realism. Her collaborative projects include “Drawn to Language” with USC Professor David St. John, and she has served as a guest professor at Caltech’s Post-Structural History course.