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

Research image of neural activity in mouse auditory cortices.

Rise in autism prevalence but not traits; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 7 July.

By Jill Adams
8 July 2025 | 2 min read
A fly over a background of waves of different colors.

Drosophila, like vertebrates, filter sensory information during sleep

Predictive sensory processing in sleeping Drosophila echoes vertebrate research, establishing an evolutionarily conserved neural signature of sleep.

By Siddhant Pusdekar
8 July 2025 | 5 min read
Two researchers wander through stacks of pie charts.

Neuroscience’s open-data revolution is just getting started

Data reuse represents an opportunity to accelerate the pace of science, reduce costs and increase the value of our collective research investments. New tools that make open data easier to use—and new pressures, including funding cuts—may increase uptake.

By Benjamin Dichter
7 July 2025 | 6 min read