Jesse Sopher is an award-winning scholar, educator, and consultant recognized for his expertise in queer theory and literature. With over a decade of teaching experience at institutions such as Ball State University and Indiana University Kokomo, Sopher currently teaches a variety of English courses at Ivy Tech Community College. In addition to his teaching, he consults with educational technology companies and institutions to develop resources aimed at improving literacy, literary comprehension, and analytical skills. His research spans queer literary narratives, sexology, and the formation of modern queer communities, making him a passionate academic committed to exploring the intersections of literature, education, and queer culture.
Sopher’s professional background reflects his broad expertise in English studies, with a focus on late 19th and 20th-century American literature. He holds a master’s degree in Liberal Studies from Indiana University Kokomo, where his thesis examined LGBTQ narratives in the so-called golden age of queer television. His undergraduate degree, also from IU Kokomo, focused on the feminist ideology of ‘girl power’ as depicted in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Sopher completed his doctoral coursework at Ball State University, where he researched the influence of sexology on the development of modern queer communities, investigating how the rise of scientific discourse around queerness in the late 19th and early 20th centuries shaped contemporary queer identities and activism.
A proud first-generation college graduate, Sopher’s career has spanned various fields. Early in his professional life, he wrote for publications, web shows, and podcasts focused on technology and geek culture. Though his passion for technology remains, his academic career shifted towards literature and queer studies after completing his bachelor’s and graduate degrees. Today, Sopher continues to contribute to both academic and public understandings of queer culture, educational technology, and literary analysis.