Richard Howells is a regular contributor to BBC national television and radio discussions on media and cultural issues. In 2004, he was Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Center for the Arts in Society, Carnegie-Mellon University.

Howells received his A.B. from Harvard University and an M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Cambridge University. His recent papers include: "Listening with the Eyes: Art and Navajo Visual Culture;" "Celebrities, Saints and Sinners: The Photograph as Holy Relic"; and "Midget Cities: Utopia, Utopianism and the Vor-schein of the 'Freak' Show" in Disability Studies Quarterly, Volume 25, Number 3, Summer 2005.