Alexis Lothian

Alexis Lothian is an Associate Professor in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Maryland. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. Her interdisciplinary research bridges queer and feminist media studies, focusing on speculative fiction, digital media, and fan cultures. Key areas include disability justice, technology, and race-based analyses of futurist imaginaries.

Lothian’s work critically examines how fan communities negotiate identity, power, and social justice through creative practices. Notable projects include Old Futures: Speculative Fiction and Queer Possibility (2018) and collaborations on transformative works like the #transformDH collective. She co-edits the NYU Press series Queer/Trans/Digital/Diaspora and serves on the Motherboard of the Otherwise Award, recognizing speculative fiction advancing gender understandings.

Her recent scholarship addresses racial justice in fan fiction platforms (e.g., AO3) and digital humanities as critical fandom. Publicly engaged writing spans topics from trigger warnings in pedagogy to Afrofuturist gender entanglements, reflecting a commitment to intersectional frameworks.

Lothian’s career demonstrates how fan studies intersect with academic rigor, challenging institutional norms through participatory scholarship. Current projects include co-authored analyses of slash fan fiction politics and histories of early 21st-century fan activism.