Showing: 16 - 30 of 55 RESULTS
2025In personPanel 14Saturday 27th September 2025Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

The linguistic landscape in the early Imperium of Man – Low Gothic at the time of the Great Crusade and theoretical accounts of language change

The pre-imperial human settlers who colonized the galaxy during the Dark Age of Technology initially spoke a variety of Low Gothic. During the Age of Strife, however, their colonies were cut off from Old Earth for millennia. As a result, the standard version of Low Gothic spoken on Old Earth/Holy Terra and the many local …

2025In personPanel 13Saturday 27th September 2025Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

The not-quite-so-dark future: colour coding in Warhammer 40K

Warhammer manifests in various forms, such as tabletop wargames, books, and video games. At its core, however, Warhammer is a range of miniatures. Miniatures are Games Workshop’s primary source of income, and all other manifestations of Warhammer stem from these miniatures. The essence of Warhammer is thus fundamentally visual. In this visual universe, colours play …

2025In personPanel 13Saturday 27th September 2025Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

Konrad Curze and the obstacles of crime prevention

“There is no glory in prevention” – but Konrad Curze and his Night Lords beg to differ. Their ruthless understanding of justice and judgement embodies all of the principles of the negative general prevention: hard, cruel and swift punishment, even for small crimes, to ensure the obedience of his subjects and to prevent further criminal …

2025OnlinePanel 12Saturday 27th September 2025Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

The Unforgiven and the Fallen – Challenging Shame as a Social Identity through the Risen and the Black Sheep Effect

The Unforgiven—the Legio Dark Angels and their successor chapters—hold the secret of Luther’s betrayal of the Lion and Caliban at the heart of their identity as a chapter; even to the point of prosecuting friendly forces for stumbling upon the shameful secret. While this is not unique to the Dark Angels—with the Blood Angels and …

2025OnlinePanel 12Saturday 27th September 2025Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

“Victory, as the galaxy burns”: Narrative State Transitions and the Commercial Context of Warhammer 40k

This presentation builds on previous research relating to narrative state transitions and nemein-seeking behaviour by applying this context to the various narratives present within Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe. By reference to Tzvetan Todorov’s theory of the minimum complete plot this presentation identifies and explores how narrative state transitions are managed within the 40k …

2025OnlinePanel 12Saturday 27th September 2025Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

Litany of Sacrifice: Suffering Violence in the Name of Christian Nationalism

Alternately revered and reviled for their suicidal devotion to duty, the Death Korps of Krieg constitute an indisputable paragon of rampant nationalistic fervor—so much so that, in order to restore collective honor after their planetary governor betrays the God Emperor of Mankind, the Korps progenitor (the infamous Colonel Jurten) reduces their home planet to a …

2025In personPanel 11Saturday 27th September 2025Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

Millennialism and the Coming Tyranid Invasion: The Doomsday Beliefs of the Genestealer Cults

Religious themes and the fanaticism that they bring are some of the most important to the universe of Warhammer 40K. While the Imperium of Man is steadfastly dedicated to the worship of the God Emperor, the Genestealer Cults thrive in the cracks of this mainstream religion, as a group of disorientated commoners. One defining element …

2025In personPanel 11Saturday 27th September 2025Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

Enhanced or Enslaved? Autonomy, Fairness and Morality in the Empire of Man

The pursuit of cognitive and physical enhancement in humans raises profound ethical and practical questions, particularly as technological advances make such interventions increasingly feasible. This presentation examines the ethical frameworks and feasibility concerns surrounding human enhancement, focusing on issues such as autonomy, justice, authenticity, and societal impact. Special attention is given to emerging neurotechnologies—including both …

2025In personPanel 11Saturday 27th September 2025Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

In Life, War. In Death, Peace. In Life, Shame. In Death, Atonement: The Death Korps of Krieg and the Cultural Memory of Total War

The Death Korps of Krieg are a fan-favourite Imperial Guard regiment in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Born from rebellion, nuclear apocalypse and a 500-year-long civil conflict, these gas-masked, great-coated “normal soldiers” (as opposed to aliens, daemons and superhumans of other factions), serve as a condensed repository of 20th-century cultural memories of total war. This paper …

2025In personPanel 10Saturday 27th September 2025Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

Grimdark Metaphysics: Is there an Ultimate Reality in WH40K?

Metaphysics is an analysis of fundamental principles or of the absolute. Such lines of questioning might be directed at any worldview, whether it concerns our own actual world or fictional worlds. In my talk I want to inquire into the absolute of the Warhammer 40K universe, as the different factions see it.In the first part …

2025In personPanel 10Saturday 27th September 2025Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

The Dead God, The Golden Throne, and A Hope Messianic: An Examination on the Organizing (Dead) Power of the Master Signifier and The Abandonment of Messiah 

This paper explores the figure of the Emperor of Man from Warhammer 40,000 as a Master Signifier, situating him within the psychoanalytic traditions of Freud and Lacan while drawing a sharp contrast with the messianic hope articulated in the ethical philosophies of Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida. In Freudian and Lacanian theory, the Father—whether as …

2025Friday 26th September 2025OnlinePanel 9Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

Machine Spirit Epistemology: Ritual, Reason, and Trust in the Cult Mechanicus and Modern Explainable AI

In the grimdark universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Adeptus Mechanicus worships the Machine Spirit, a divine essence said to inhabit all technology. Though cloaked in ritual and superstition, the Cult Mechanicus enforces a deeply conservative system of knowledge management, system diagnostics, and behavioural control over complex, often poorly understood machinery. This paper argues that such …

2025Friday 26th September 2025OnlinePanel 9Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

The Architecture of the 41st Millennium

This paper discusses the built environment of the Warhammer 40,000 universe through a number of architectural, anthropological, and cinematic theories.  The aim is to underline the uniqueness of this setting, grounded firmly in British popular culture to its status as a global phenomenon.  In addition to this, the paper examines the hobbyists’ engagement with modelmaking …

2025Friday 26th September 2025OnlinePanel 9Fulgrim vs Ferrus Manus (c) Games Workshop

Al-Farabi’s Attainment of Happiness and the God-Emperor of Mankind

The works of the medieval Arabic philosopher Al-Farabi (c. 872-950) reconstruct the thinking of Plato and Aristotle in a world forever changed by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the Attainment of Happiness and The Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, Al-Farabi quietly presents a radical political program. Al-Farabi’s ponderous opening meditation on epistemology turns out to …