overview

• Dr. Mercer was trained as a biblical scholar and published in that field for years. For a decade and a half, he has addressed the opportunities, dangers, and religious implications of radical human enhancement technology. Along with UK scholar Steve Fuller, Mercer coedits Palgrave Studies in the Future of Humanity and Its Successors, the oldest book series addressing human enhancement from all disciplines and points of view. Dr. Mercer's publications on human enhancement are listed in the bibliography. He was founding chair of the "Human Enhancement and Transhumanism" Unit in the American Academy of Religion, the largest and most significant organization devoted to the academic study of religion, and he currently serves as co-chair of that unit's steering committee. He serves on the Academic Advisory Council of the Christian Transhumanist Association. Also trained in clinical psychology, Dr. Mercer practiced professionally part-time for over a decade and uses this discipline in his published work on religion. He is professor of religion at East Carolina University and gives public lectures on the religious implications of human enhancement technology, fundamentalism, and other topics.