Contributor Introduction - Emily Ryall

I am a senior lecturer in Philosophy in the Sport, Health and Social Care faculty of the University of Gloucestershire, UK. My interest in the Philosophy of Sport came about accidentally. Although I have always been involved in sport from a playing perspective, my background is in Philosophy and Linguistics. Nevertheless, I was fortunate enough to secure a funded PhD in Philosophy in a sports department, which opened up a whole new field of research that, as an undergraduate in Philosophy, I never even knew existed. My hope is, as the study of sport gains greater credibility (as it is still a fairly young academic subject) to see courses on the Philosophy of Sport becoming as common on undergraduate philosophy curricula, as those on the Philosophy of Religion, Aesthetics, or the Philosophy of Science.
My current research is primarily focused upon the effect that technology will have on the concept of the human athlete and its implications for sport (we have a funded PhD coming up on this which will be advertised shortly), although I tend to dabble in lots of different areas.
The rest of my life still revolves around playing sport and keeping as active as possible (I recently took up skateboarding and gymnastics!) and I hope to continue for as long as my body allows.