News
UWS ACADEMIC PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY
29 October 2008
Human Futures: Art in an Age of Uncertainty’, which is Edited by Dr Andy Miah of University of the West of Scotland and explores the challenges humanity faces in the future, is launched on Thursday 30 October 2008 at the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT).
The publication contains contributions from internationally renowned artists, scientists, ethicists and futurologists. The book examines a wide variety of themes including the relationship between the human body and technology, the public engagement with science and the significance of science-fiction.
The book, which accompanies FACT’s programme during Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2008, brings together essays by such luminaries as George J Annas, Fiona Raby and Anthony Dunne, Norman M Klein, William Sims Bainbridge and Oron Catts.
Combining scholarly essays, images, interviews, design products, artistic artefacts, original quotations and creative writing, this publication is a textual illustration of the disparate studies of artistic endeavour and scientific inquiry that has been a common feature of FACT’s 2008 programme, which has stimulated debate surrounding the future of humanity and the impact of emerging technology.
To mark the book launch a symposium, Human Futures, is also being held on 30 October at FACT. The symposium is designed to further expand on the discussions surrounding the topics, featuring keynote speeches from a range of writers and artists.
Dr Andy Miah, who is Reader in New Media and Bioethics at University of the West of Scotland, was recently awarded a Fellowship from FACT.
He said: “At a time of economic crisis, the core goals of humanity are always brought into question. This book interrogates the most ambitious aspirations for humanity, such as space exploration, human enhancement and the provision of fundamental human needs. It provides the richest scope of interpretations on this subject by bringing together designers, artists, ethicists, and science fiction writers to collectively articulate this future.
“This book represents the highest level of blue-sky thinking about how best we could collectively imagine the future. It has been a privilege to pull this together.”