Jonathan Alexander

Chancellor's Professor of English and Gender & Sexuality Studies, University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine

Jonathan’s research areas include Writing Studies, Composition/Rhetoric, New Media Studies, and Sexuality Studies.

His scholarly work focuses primarily on the use of emerging communications technologies in the teaching of writing and in shifting conceptions of what writing, composing, and authoring mean.

Jonathan also works at the intersection of the fields of writing studies and sexuality studies, where he explores what theories of sexuality, particularly queer theory, have to teach us about literacy and literate practice in pluralistic democracies.

Jonathan’s books include “Writing Youth: Young Adult Fiction as Literacy Sponsorship” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), “On Multimodality: New Media in Composition Studies” (with Jacqueline Rhodes, CCC Studies in Writing & Rhetoric, 2014), “Understanding Rhetoric: A Graphic Guide to Writing” (with Elizabeth Losh, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013), “Bisexuality and Queer Theory” (edited with Serena Anderlini-D’Onofrio, Routledge, 2011), “Finding Out: An Introduction to LGBT Studies” (with Deborah Meem and Michelle Gibson, Sage, 2010) and “Literacy, Sexuality, Pedagogy: Theory and Practice for Composition Studies” (Utah State University Press, 2008).

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

When Autistic Kids Grow Up.

When autistic kids grow up

An autistic researcher’s paper called attention to a huge disparity in autism funding research between children and adults. It nearly derailed her life.

By Brady Huggett
20 May 2026 | 2 min listen
Collage with a portrait of Suzanne Wood.

The ‘secretly awesome’ side of a teaching career

The freedom to do “wacky” research projects that interest you is a major perk of the teaching stream, says Suzanne Wood, a teaching professor at the University of Toronto.

By Katie Moisse
20 May 2026 | 7 min read
Los manifestantes marchan por la calle portando una pancarta que dice "Defendamos la ciencia".

Manifestantes argentinos denuncian el recorte al financiamiento científico

Manifestantes alrededor del país exigieron al gobierno que aumente los salarios de las universidades públicas y el financiamiento para la investigación científica.