Dr Ross Curran

PhD

Role: Assistant Professor - Edinburgh Business School
Section: School of Social Sciences

About

Dr. Ross Curran is the Associate Head of the Department of Marketing and Operations at the Dubai Campus, and the Global Programme Director for the MSc in Digital Marketing. Ross leads several undergraduate and postgraduate courses delivered across Heriot-Watt’s three campus locations and publishes in academic journals, and practitioner media.

Ross focuses on integrating industry and practice into his courses, developing practice-based assignments in digital marketing, that connect academic research insights with the needs of industry

Biography

Academic Leadership and Affiliations:

Ross is a member of the Marketing Society, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Before joining Heriot-Watt University, he worked in education in Japan and as a Marketing lecturer in the United Kingdom.

Ross is the Associate Head of Department for Marketing and Operations (Academic) at the Dubai Campus, which houses courses in analytics, project management, marketing, operations and logistics, and the management of supply chains.

Ross serves as an external examiner on programmes delivered at other UK institutions

Qualifications:

2017 - PhD
Heriot-Watt University

Research

Dr. Ross Curran’s research focus is two-fold; the intersection between tourism and volunteering, and the internationalization of teaching pedagogy in business. He is interested in how visitor and volunteer experiences can be enhanced through leveraging inherent non-profit organizational or visitor-site characteristics such as imbued heritage sustainably. This aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically in relation to reducing inequalities, promoting decent work and economic growth, and sustainable work and communities. His pedagogical research focuses on developing cross-cultural entrepreneurial education.

Publications

Butler R, Curran R, & O’Gorman, K “Pro Poor Tourism in a First World Urban Setting: Case study of Glasgow Govan”.International Journal of Tourism Research, 15, 443-457, 2013.
Thompson J, Curran R, & O’Gorman, K.“A Modern Day Panopticon: Using power and control theory to manage volunteer tourists in Bolivia”. Tourism Perspectives, 22, 34-43, 2017.
Curran R, Arroteia N, Blesa A, Musteen, M and Ripolles M., “Improving Cultural Intelligence, Psychological Empowerment, and Task Performance in the Classroom: Global Game Challenge ”.Journal of Teaching in International Business 22, (1), 36-56, 2021.
Curran R, ‘Responsible marketing: The human face of brands’ In Campaign Middle East, January 2023. See:https://campaignme.com/responsible-marketing-the-human-face-of-brands-by-heriot-watts-dr-ross-curan/
Curran R, ‘Accessible tourism for everyone’ In Trav Talk Middle East. See:http://travtalkmiddleeast.com/pdf/2023/TTMEFeb23.pdf(page 6). February2023