I am an Iranian-American economic and cultural historian researching multidimensional economic, social, educational and psychological impacts in artificial intelligence, robotics and bioengineering. With qualitative methodologies as the foundation (case studies, oral histories, archival materials, structured and unstructured interviews, and open-ended surveys), my research interests traverse multiple disciplines, as they affect economics and education. I am also examining the effective impacts of an education strong in critical thinking as a counterpoint to Islamist dictates in countries like Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, framed as a constructive alternative to policies emphasizing military spending in fostering democratic change. I was a student of Hans Georg Gadamer at Heidelberg University and mentored by Sir Roger Scruton whilst at the University of Cambridge.
RECENT UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE
Fellow of Branford College, Yale University (2024-)
Presently working on a book which connects researchers, practitioners and experts in the fields of artificial intelligence, genetics, robotics, ethics and philosophy, along with essays about the economic impacts of technology for non-STEM workers, women’s rights in Iran and education in Pakistan. Have served as a guest lecturer and instructor, with various presentations including at the Yale Center for Collaborative Arts and Media. Presented an April 2025 talk (“Embodied Intelligence: Science Fiction Visions and Technological Reality”), as part of The Fourth International Conference on Embodied Intelligence, University of Cambridge: Department of Engineering.
Visiting Academic, Media Studies Faculty, Yale University (2023-2024)
Undertook research towards a book on the scientific and social prescience of the film Blade Runner (1982), gave several talks at the university and taught a course, as a basis for an essay that sets one platform for considering the impacts of a synthetic future where AI, robotics and bioengineering dominate (“Can the prescience of Blade Runner engender a deeper understanding of our relationship with AI technology?” Institute of Physics Publishing (IOP).
Fellow, New College, University of Oxford (2021-)
I have a publishing contract for a biography of Major Geoffrey Langlands OBE on which I have been working as a member of the Oxford history faculty. Langlands went from being a British war hero to “Pakistan’s teacher,” establishing a school on the Afghan border and empowering his students to defy the encroaching Taliban through a curriculum rich in critical thinking.
Guest Lecturer and Visiting Scholar, Various Institutions
University of Westminster, York St. John University.
Prepared and offered lectures to students at undergraduate and master’s degree levels on an ongoing basis. Presently, a visiting scholar at Amherst, Smith College and Vassar College.
Other schools for special topical presentations:
University of California-Los Angeles, Chapman University, Leeds University, Bournemouth University, Girton College, Cambridge, Pembroke College, Cambridge, University of Oxford.
PUBLICATIONS
Ross, Alexander G. “The Major: In Search of Geoffrey Langlands”. Academica Press. (forthcoming, 2025).
Ross, Alexander G. “Can the prescience of Blade Runner engender a deeper understanding of our relationship with AI technology?” (2024). Institute of Physics Publishing (IOP). Proceedings: The Third International Conference on Embodied Intelligence, University of Cambridge: Department of Engineering. (2023).
Ross, Alexander G. “Embodied Intelligence: Science Fiction Visions and Technological Reality,” (forthcoming,2025). Proceedings: The Fourth International Conference on Embodied Intelligence, University of Cambridge: Department of Engineering. (2023)
Ross, Alexander G. “The Evolution of Hollywood’s Calculated Blockbuster Films: Blockbusted” Lexington Books, 2023.
Ross, Alexander G. “No Ordinary Life.” Secrets & Lives: UEA Non-Fiction Anthology, Egg Box Publishing, 2020, pp. 77–82.
Ross, Alexander G. ‘We Were Just Trying to Entertain’: Grease in Production. In Gruner, Oliver, and Peter Krämer, eds. ‘Grease is the Word’: Exploring a Cultural Phenomenon. Anthem Press, 2019.
Ross, Alexander G. “Creative decision making within the contemporary Hollywood studios.” Journal of Screenwriting 2.1 (2011): 99-116.
Newsweek contributions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
MEDIA INTERVIEWS
In addition to having been interviewed on prime-time network television by Dateline NBC, his career has been covered variously by The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Variety, The Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, Reuters, Newsday, The London Times, Daily Mail, The Guardian, Newsweek and others.
EDUCATION
Ph.D. University of East Anglia
M.A. University of Cambridge, Economics & Political Science
M.A. Biography and Creative nonfiction writing, University of East Anglia
B.A. University of Cambridge, Economics & Political Science
LANGUAGES SPOKEN:
German, French, Farsi, Urdu (some) and English