Alistair S. Duff

UoG Visiting Affiliate Professor of Information Policy

Greater Glasgow Area

About

Alistair S. Duff, BA, MPhil, MSc, PG Cert HE, PhD is visiting affiliate professor of information policy, School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, & emeritus professor at Edinburgh Napier University. He was a founding member, leader, sole professor, video presenter, content provider, qualified podcaster, grant writer, strategic advisor, prize winner and promised equity grantee at ProfessorMe Ltd. Tutoring at https://www.superprof.co.uk/ir/35121526-961dd1 YouTube @alduff1229 Lecturer in digital society, UoG, 2023-24, & visiting fellow 2023-25. Academic visitor, University of Edinburgh, 2021-23, & guest lecturer 2025. In 2021, he was a visiting prof at CNSC, IN3, Open University of Catalonia. Duff was from 2013-21 professor of information policy at ENU, where he taught on journalism, mass comms, publishing, information studies & social science programmes. He has been a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford (OII) and a summer-school lecturer at the University of Zurich, & has presented his work in Japan, the US & 12 European countries. Prior to lecturing & freelance journalism, he worked as a tutor, researcher and/or academic librarian. He has contributed to print & broadcast media, inc. Newsnight, Debate Night, The Atlantic.com, Radio Sputnik, The Independent, Ethical Census News, The Scotsman, The Sunday Express, The Ferret & The Conversation, as well as presenting opinion series on community radio. He has spoken in debates on various platforms, inc. the Oxford Union, Scotland Tonight & the Alba Party. Served as external examiner at Aberystwyth, Lincoln, Nottingham Trent & City universities. Experience as rep then branch secretary, EIS-ULA. From Nottingham, now living in Greater Glasgow (Cumbernauld). With a background in philosophy (KCL, Glasgow) and information (Strathclyde), he is an interdisciplinary researcher, teacher, freelance journalist & keynote speaker on the social & political implications of information, technology & media. Author of Information Society Studies (Routledge, 2000) and A Normative Theory of the Information Society (Routledge, 2012), as well as articles in research journals such as Information Polity, European Journal of Social Theory, Information, Communication & Society, Journal of Information Science, JASIST, International Journal of Public Theology, Journalism Studies & Journal of Information Ethics. Editor, Research Handbook on Information Policy (Edward Elgar, 2021). Letters in The Times, Financial Times, Guardian, Herald, Scotsman, etc. Also into theoretical physics. 🤔

Experience

  • University of Glasgow (Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom)
    • Visiting Affiliate Professor of Information Policy
      Oct 2025 - Present · 9 mos

    • Visiting Fellow in Digital Society and Economy
      Oct 2023 - Sep 2025 · 2 yrs

  • Lecturer in Digital Society at UofG School of Social and Political Sciences
    Sep 2023 - Jun 2024 · 10 mos

  • Academic Visitor School of Social and Political Science at The University of Edinburgh
    Sep 2022 - Sep 2023 · 1 yr 1 mo

  • Academic Visitor at University of Edinburgh School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences
    Sep 2021 - Sep 2022 · 1 yr 1 mo

  • Visiting Scholar at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
    Mar 2021 - Sep 2021 · 7 mos

    1 March - 30 September 2021 visiting scholar at IN3, the Interdisciplinary Internet Institute, Open University of Catalonia, based in the Communication Networks and Social Change research group. I worked on a sociological project entitled 'Castells v. Bell: a Comparative Analysis of Two Grand Theorists of the Information Age'.