Your conference organising team for 2026
Dr Mike Ryder is a lecturer in Marketing at Lancaster University (UK). His research sits at the intersection between literature, philosophy, history, technology studies and social science. He also conducts practice-based research relating to digital marketing and work-based learning. His website is www.mjryder.net.
Dr Thomas Arnold is assistant professor (akademischer Rat) at the Philosophical Seminar of the University of Heidelberg. He has interests in both ancient metaphysics and phenomenology (which resulted in his Dissertation Phänomenologie als Platonismus) and is currently working on his Habilitation on Plato, Plotinus & Nicolas of Cusa, concerning philosophical thematization (i.e., how we acquire topics in philosophy, what we do then, and whether we ever stop doing it). Apart from these scholarly matters, he also pursues public philosophy when- and wherever he can: in schools, in jail, and in the streets for example.
Dr Chris Dows is professional writer and Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Lincoln. He has contributed to the Star Trek franchise for the last four decades and is also a published Black Library author.
Grimdark narratives
We are delighted to have been awarded funding from the AHRC Impact Accelerator for our project exploring ‘Grimdark narratives’. Our project members are Mike Ryder, Martin Dechant and Max Friehs.
Dr Martin Dechant is lecturer for digital mental health at UCL. In his research he investigates mental health needs a factors resilience and vulnerability source in digital environments. Further, his work explores how play and (digital) games can be used as assessment and intervention tool for mental health needs. He founded and leads the UCL digital mental health hub.
Dr Maximilian A. Friehs is an assistant professor at the University of Twente (Netherlands) in the Psychology of Conflict, Risk and Safety section. In general he is interested in understanding human behavior and experience in order to be able to enhance it in (subjectively or objectively) critical situations and understand where the boundaries are. His work bridges psychology, neuroscience, and human-computer interaction, enabling collaborations across these domains and beyond (e.g., with video game developers, applied research institutions or public services).
Publicity
Joachim Besson has been a Warhammer enthusiast since childhood. He studied philosophy and political science at the universities of Berne and Lausanne, and has a keen interest in literature and political philosophy. He lives in Strasbourg, France.
Warhammer Conference Founders
