“Andy Miah is the Renaissance man of the enhancement enlightenment”
Kristi Scott, H+ Magazine, 2009

“Andy Miah is no ordinary academic. Part futurologist, part philosopher, his work on the science of sport grew to encompass bioethics, medical law and now covers all aspects of the way technology impacts on human beings” The Scotsman, 2008

These lovely quotes from equally lovely people are two of the nicest comments I’ve had about what I do. I’m as unsatisfied with the word ‘academic’ as I am many other designations. I spend most of my time writing, giving talks, reading and teaching. My research expertise is best indicated by the category weighting of the posts in this website. Nevertheless, for brevity, I broadly investigate the implications of emerging technologies for humanity, which typically involves re-thinking how we imagine ourselves and our place in the world.

There are two principal categories of ideas that inform this work: the biological and the digital. For an overview of how this all comes together for me, the best snapshot I can offer is my 2010 inaugral lecture at University of the West of Scotland. Areas that I’ve focused on recently include studying the implications of pervasive wireless connectivity, the convergence of scientific technological systems and the modification of biological matter through nanotechnology and gene transfer. Many of these studies are  transdisciplinary and  characterised as NBIC (nano-bio-info-cognitive) studies. Recent work has particularly examined the role of art and design in an era of biotechnology, often described as bioart or transgenic art or bioart.

I have published over 120, solo-authored academic articles in refereed journals, books, e-zines, and national media press, recently including Bioethics and Film, Medical Enhancement and Posthumanity, and Politics and Leisure. I also write for leading newspapers, including The Washington Post, The Guardian, Le Monde, the Times Higher Education Supplement. I have also had profile pieces published on my work by The Scotsman, The Times and the Independent.

I am frequently invited to speak about the implications of new technologies for humanity (the individual) and society (the collective), particularly ethical issues related to new media, biopolitics and public engagement.

I am also involved with various projects that stud various non-sporting aspects of the Olympic movement and have been working in this area for 10 years. I have undertaken primary data collection at the last 5 Olympic Games. The next phases of this research takes me to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. In relation to this work, I am also co-editor of the online, academic serial ‘Culture at the Olympics’.

I am a member of various academic associations and working groups, including the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Yale University Bioethics working group, the Society of Applied Philosophy, the British Society for Ethical Theory, the International Association of Bioethics, and the Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association, the Society for Social Studies of Science.

I am currently Director of Studies for 4 PhD students, Ana Adi (Romania), Tina Dobrodt (Germany), Jennifer Jones (Scotland) and Julia Rommel (Germany).

PS: I have been designing websites since 1998, most of which have been built with Macromedia & Adobe products. I’ve been blogging on Blogger and WordPress since 2005 and use photography and graphic packages throughout my environments.  Most of the photography on this site is taken by me. I think most exceptions are apparent and hopefully credited. My reason for designing websites is mainly to maintain a creative outlet other than my writing, but also because I remember reading, a long time ago,  that academic journal articles are read, on average, by 6 people. As a result, I became  committed to reaching more people with my research and this compels me towards doing publicity and engaging with the media and with media. Some of my published research talks about this need and I’ve also helped to setup others online, to advance these commitments. That said, I really just enjoy playing with technology and this is  my primary motivation to explore what computers can do.