Pioneering queer studies scholar Alexander Doty dies after being struck by motorcycle

Pioneering queer studies scholar Alexander Doty, a much-admired author, died after being hit by a motorcycle while on vacation in Bermuda

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Doty, a much-admired author, died after he was hit by a motorcycle while on vacation in Bermuda

Press Release Date: 2012-08-06T00:00:00


The University of Minnesota Press is deeply saddened by the passing of Prof. Alexander Doty, pioneering queer studies scholar and author of Making Things Perfectly Queer: Interpreting Mass Culture (Minnesota, 1993).

Doty died Sunday, Aug. 5th, after he was struck by a motorcyclist a few days earlier while vacationing in Bermuda.

Making Things Perfectly Queer was researched and written at a time when there was little to no precedent for the critical study of queer sexuality in the U.S. academy. And so, as in his teaching and mentoring of younger scholars, Doty’s published work quickly became a model to both follow and admire. And given the book’s accessible approach and focus on celebrities, popular film and other media, its impact was felt well outside of the circles of academic audiences.

Prof. Doty went on to author Flaming Classics: Queering the Film Canon (Routledge, 2000) and to edit, with Corey K. Creekmur, Out in Culture: Gay, Lesbian and Queer Essays in Popular Culture (with Corey Creekmur, Duke, 1995), both of which met with similar success and continued to pave the way for subsequent research in the field of queer media studies.

The University of Minnesota Press joins the community of friends, family, and scholars who loved and admired Alex and his contributions.