Levi C. R. Hord

PhD Student, Department of English & Comparative Literature, Columbia University

Levi C. R. Hord is a writer, scholar, and public speaker based in Lenapehoking (New York City). They are currently a Ph.D. student in the department of English & Comparative Literature at Columbia University, where they hold a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Under the supervision of Professor Jack Halberstam, Levi’s research focuses on post-2010 shifts in gender identity claims, especially the flourishing uptake of “nonbinary”. Through their academic work, Levi aims to demystify cultural and legal anxieties surrounding this significant shift in mainstream gender politics, and turn this site of theorization into an opportunity for more effective political conversations.

Outside of the university, Levi devotes their time to community-facing research roles and public speaking. Between 2019 and 2021, they designed and ran nation-wide community consultations on transgender healthcare and criminal justice through Stonewall UK. Levi has been an invited speaker at venues including the Professional Institute of the Public Service Canada, TEDx, the Fierté Canada Pride National Conference, the Women of the World Festival, and the University of Oxford.

At Columbia, Levi is also affiliated with the Institute for the Study of Sexuality and Gender, and runs the Trans & Queer Theory Graduate Colloquium through the English department. They are the 2022-2023 Graduate Assistant for Queer Theory: Here, Now, and Everywhere.