Alexander McConnell holds a B.A. in History from Grinnell College and an M.A. in Russian & Eurasian Studies from the European University at St. Petersburg. Broadly speaking, McConnell's research fields are the cultural and intellectual histories of modern Europe, Russia, and the USSR, with a particular focus on the late Soviet period (1953-91). He is currently in the beginning stages of a dissertation addressing the topic of 'Soviet humanism' as a cultural program and discursive formation emergent during the decades following Stalin’s death in 1953.