{"id":13134,"date":"2026-04-22T16:36:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T16:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/?p=13134"},"modified":"2026-05-14T11:37:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T11:37:56","slug":"gifcon-2026-technologies-of-the-fantastic-programme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/22\/gifcon-2026-technologies-of-the-fantastic-programme\/","title":{"rendered":"GIFCon 2026: Technologies of the Fantastic Programme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Event registration can be found here<\/a>. You must register for GIFCon to recieve links to all events!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Speaker abstract and bios can be found here<\/a>.
Keynotes can be found here<\/a>.
The 2026 Reading List can be found here<\/a>.
Our post on How to Join the Discord can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please note this programme is subject to change. All times listed are BST, British Summer Time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

REGISTER NOW!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 1: Wednesday May 13th<\/sup> 2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Day 1: Wednesday May 13<\/strong>th<\/sup><\/strong> 2026<\/strong> 
 <\/td><\/tr>
12:00 \u2013 12:15 Platform wide welcome \/ Opening words <\/strong>with Anna McFarlane <\/td><\/tr>
 12:15 \u2013 1:00 \u2013 Introductory Roundtable: Technologies of the Fantastic <\/strong>with the GIFCon Committee 
Chair: Anna McFarlane 
Deputy Chair: Lea Warren  <\/td><\/tr>
1:00 \u2013 1:15 Break<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Panels 1 <\/strong> 1:15 \u2013 2:30<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Panel 1A<\/strong> 
Powering the Fantastic<\/strong> 
Chair: Sam Tegtmeyer 
Deputy Chair: Maggie Naylor 

1:15 Martine Gjermundsen R\u00e6stad \u201c<\/strong>Prometheus Unbound: The Mystery, Magic and Miracle of the Atom in Golden Age Science Fiction\u201d 

1:35 Amanda Weiss \u201c<\/strong>Technologies of Faith and Fantasy: Containing Catastrophe in Makoto Shinkai\u2019s Post-2011 Disaster Trilogy\u201d 

1:55 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td>		Panel 1B <\/strong> 
Extraterrestrial Speculations <\/strong> 
Chair: Anna Salvaggio 
Deputy Chair: Jasna Deas Mason 

1:15 Jaya Singh \u201c<\/strong>Extraterrestrial Contact vs. Existential Speculation: A comparative analysis of films Cargo<\/em>, Koi Mil Gaya<\/em>, Krish<\/em> and sequels\u201d 

1:35 Lorna Ross <\/strong>\u201c\u2018Then build us a world\u2019: How Becky Chambers\u2019sira alien world-building imagines a more inclusive future for disabled people\u201d 

1:55 Amit Mandal <\/strong>\u201cAlien Ancestors and the Myth of Prehistory: Reimagining Human Origins in Moonfall<\/em> and Prometheus<\/em>\u201d 

2:15 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td>		Panel 1C <\/strong> 
Social Media<\/strong> 
Chair: Sarah Bresnahan 
Deputy Chair: Sophie Jemima O Reilly 

1:15 Alexandra Davies Franco Lucio \u201c<\/strong>Fans policing fantasy: the role of social media networks in escalating pro-censorship fan rhetoric\u201d 

1:35 Caighlan Smith \u201c<\/strong>Playing an Eldritch Influencer: Technologies of Magical Influence in Cult of the Lamb<\/em>\u201d 

1:55 Elisa Pesce \u201c<\/strong>The (Un)Freedom to Live on the Threshold of Death \u2013 The Fantastic vs Capitalist Technology in Adam Silvera\u2019s Death-Cast Series\u201d <\/strong> 

2:15 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
2:30 \u2013 2:45 Break<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
2:45 – 3:45 Keynote: Oliver K. Langmead<\/strong> 
Chair: Matthew Sangster 
Deputy Chair: Abigail Pinsent 
 <\/td><\/tr>
3:45 \u2013 4:00 Break<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
4:00 \u2013 5:00 Professional Events<\/strong> 

Networking Event <\/strong>with Lea Warren 
Chair: Lea Warren 
Deputy Chair: Eleanor Patterson
Ticketed attendees only, see the Eventbrite for tickets and information  

PowerPoint Party<\/strong> (party like its professional development) 
Chair: Mimi Markham 
Deputy Chair: Anna Salvaggio   <\/strong>
Ticketed attendees only, see the Eventbrite for tickets and information  <\/td><\/tr>
5:00 \u2013 5:15<\/strong> Break<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Panels 2<\/strong> 5:15 \u2013 6:30<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Panel 2A  <\/strong> 
Surveillance and Control<\/strong> 
Chair: Eleanor Patterson 
Deputy Chair: Chase Read 
 
5:15 Clarice de Souza <\/strong>\u201cNo One Mourns The Wicked: The Construction of a Public Enemy No. 1 for Maintaining the Status Quo\u201d 

5:35 Danielle Blee \u201c<\/strong>The Archduke\u2019s Arsenal: Necropolitics, Warfare, and the Industrialisation of Magic in Baldur\u2019s Gate 3<\/em>\u201d 

5:55 Adrian Arana-Armesto \u201c<\/strong>Invisibility Is Not Freedom: Transparency, Surveillance, and Fantasy Technology in Tolkien\u201d 

6:15 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td>		Panel 2B <\/strong> 
Magical Machines<\/strong> 
Chair: Lea Warren 
Deputy Chair: C Mims 
 
5:15 Dr. Pritam Panda and Dr. Panchali Bhattacharya <\/strong>\u201cThree Hundred Patents and A Cooking Pot: Culinary Magic as Rogue Infrastructure in Saad Z. Hossain’s Bring Your Own Spoon<\/em>\u201d 

5:35 Lara Toppel \u201c<\/strong>Alethiometer and Adolescence: Regarding the Matter of Consciousness in His Dark Materials<\/em>\u201d 

5:55 Mario Scorzelli \u201c<\/strong>Extrascientific Machines: Absolute Contingency and Technological Fantasy in Leopoldo Lugones\u2019s \u201cLa Fuerza Omega\u201d\u201d 

6:15 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td>		Panel 2C<\/strong> 
Reckoning with the Past<\/strong>
Chair: Mercury Natis 
Deputy Chair: Percy Truong 

5:15 Maliha Iqbal <\/strong>\u201cUnsettling Time: The Self-Reflexive Fantastic in Om Shanti Om<\/em> and Last Night in Soho<\/em>\u201d 
 

5:35 Mimi Markham <\/strong>\u201c\u2018Adam\u2019s utopia masked a nightmare, as utopias generally do\u2019: Future Technologies and Historical War in Fantasy\u201d  

5:55<\/strong> Anna Milon \u201c<\/strong>Who Built This Nature: Technophilia in Epic Fantasy\u201d  
 
6:15 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
6:30 \u2013 6:45 <\/strong>Short Break <\/td><\/tr>
6:45 \u2013 7:45 <\/strong>\u2013After Dark 18+ Roundtable: Digital Embodiment through Fandom Erotica <\/strong>with Mars Nicoli, Saige Severin, Bailey Van Den Heuvel, Molly Brown 
Chair: Mercury Natis 
Deputy Chair: Chase Read <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Day 2: Thursday May 14th<\/sup>, 2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Panels 3 <\/strong>  9:00 \u2013 10:15<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Panel 3A<\/strong> 
The World(s) We Make<\/strong> 
Chair: Abigail Pinsent 
Deputy Chair: C Mims 

9:00 Amelia Chen \u201c<\/strong>Dwelling in the 21st-Century West of Ireland: Sublime Infrastructures in Mike McCormack\u2019s Solar Bones<\/em>\u201d 

9:20 Sophie Fink \u201c<\/strong>Cities Born and Raised: Negotiations of Urban Selfhood in Nghi Vo\u2019s The City in Glass<\/em> and N. K. Jemisin\u2019s The City We Became<\/em>\u201d 

9:40 Punyashree Panda & Rirtwika Roychowdhury \u201c<\/strong>Let It Go, Let It Grow: Building the Material Self in Frozen<\/em> and Encanto<\/em>\u201d 

10:00 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td>		Panel 3B<\/strong> 
R.F. Kuang\u2019s Babel<\/em><\/strong> 
Chair: Eleanor Patterson 
Deputy Chair: Lara Toppel 

9:00 Patricia Garc\u00eda-Santos <\/strong>\u201cFrom Biblical Myth to Speculative Fantasy: R. F. Kuang\u2019s Babel<\/em> or the Technology of Translation\u201d 

9:20 Stephen Goldfinch \u201c<\/strong>Silver, empire and colonialism in Babel<\/em> by R.F. Kuang\u201d 

9:40 Michelle Chen <\/strong>\u201cBabel<\/em>\u2019s Loose Ends: Destruction and Vengeance in Academic Settings\u201d 

10:00 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td>		Panel 3C<\/strong> 
Post-Human Possibilities<\/strong> 
Chair: Mimi Markham 
Deputy Chair: Percy Truong 

9:00 Cenk Tan \u201c<\/strong>Artificial Companionship, Affective Labour, and Technocratic Care in Brian Aldiss\u2019s Super-Toys Last All Summer Long<\/em>\u201d 

9:20 Dr. Francesca Bihet <\/strong>\u201cElectronic Parasites: The Programming of Fairy Belief in Steven Spielberg\u2019s A.I.<\/em>\u201d 

9:40 \u00d6zlem Uslu \u201c<\/strong>The Biomechanics of Death: NDEs as Traumatic Technologies of the Body in V.E. Schwab’s Villains<\/em>\u201d 

10:00 Discussion <\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
10:15 \u2013 10:30 Break<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
 
10:30 \u2013 11:45 Panels 4: Workshop<\/strong>  
(Ticketed attendees only; Zoom links available via Eventbrite)  

Conjuring Wonder: Ambi-Drawing and the Pencil as Machine<\/strong> with Erin Finley 
Deputy Chair: Maggie Naylor   <\/td><\/tr>
 
11:45 \u2013 12:45 Lunch Break Research Spotlight in the Discord <\/strong>with Maddie Reid 
Chair: Sam Tegtmeyer   <\/td><\/tr>
12:45 \u2013 1:00<\/strong> Break<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
  1:00 \u2013 2:00 Roundtable on Utopias + Dystopias<\/strong>with Caroline Edwards and Oliver Langmead 
Chair: Anna McFarlane 
Deputy Chair: Jasna Deas Mason   <\/td><\/tr>
2:00 \u2013 2:15 Break<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Panels 5<\/strong>  2:15 \u2013 3:30<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Panel 5A <\/strong> 
Medical Magic<\/strong> 
Chair: Anna McFarlane 
Deputy Chair: Lara Toppel 

2:15 Brian Keeley <\/strong>\u201cHeart Transplant Technologies: the struggle against the fantastic\u201d 

2:35 Dr. Grace A.T. Worm \u201c<\/strong>Contraception as Both Magic and Technology in the Fantasy Worldbuilding of Tamora Pierce and Robin Hobb\u201d 

2:55 Mar\u00eda Ferr\u00e1ndez-Sanmiguel \u201c<\/strong>Transhumanism, Immortality and the Political Role of Fantasy in Brandon Sanderson\u2019s The Final Empire<\/em> (2006)\u201d 

3:15 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td>		Panel 5B <\/strong> 
Technological Fantasies and the Real World<\/strong> 
Chair: Sam Tegtmeyer 
Deputy Chair: Percy Truong 

2:15 Saige Severin \u201c<\/strong>Pondering the Orb: Artificial Intelligence and the Colonization of the Imagination\u201d 

2:35 Alexander Morgan \u201c<\/strong>Machinations of Magic: Tolkien\u2019s Typing, Elvish Technology, and the Victorian Arts & Craft Movement\u201d 

2:55 Kyna McClenaghan \u201c<\/strong>The Fantastic in Scientology’s E-Meter\u2014A New Age Technology\u201d 

3:15 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td>		Panel 5C <\/strong> 
Rhetorics of Genre<\/strong> 
Chair: Abigail Pinsent 
Deputy Chair: C Mims 

2:15 Prakriti Basu <\/strong>\u201cFrom Laboratory to Lore: A Study of Stranger Things<\/em> as Science Fantasy and an escape from capitalist anxieties\u201d 
 
2:35 Michelle Esrig-Munguia \u201c<\/strong>Technologies of Genre Regulation: Romantasy and the Marginalisation of Feminised Systems\u201d 
 
2:55 Mikayla Wigder <\/strong>\u201cUrban Romantasy: How Technology and Romance Come Together\u201d 
 
3:15 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
3:30 \u2013 3:45 Break<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
 
3:45 \u2013 4:45 Keynote: Jeff Vandermeer<\/strong> 
Chair: Will Tattersdill 
Deputy Chair: Lea Warren 
 <\/td><\/tr>
4:45\u00a0\u2013\u00a05:00 Break\u00a0<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
5:00 \u2013 6:00 Author Spotlight:\u00a0Vajra Chandrasekera<\/strong>\u00a0
Chair: Will\u00a0Tattersdill\u00a0
Deputy Chairs: Sam Tegtmeyer & Lea Warren\u00a0<\/td><\/tr>
6:00 \u2013 Pub Quiz<\/strong> 
Chair: Mercury Natis 
Deputy Chair: Sarah Bresnahan <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 3: Friday May 15th<\/sup>, 2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Panels 6 <\/strong>  10:00 \u2013 11:15<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Panel 6A <\/strong> 
Crip Technics<\/strong> 
Chair: Anna Salvaggio 
Deputy Chair: Chase Read 
 
10:00<\/strong> Oana Marin <\/strong>\u201cCrip Technics and the Geopolitics of Stasis: Uneven and Combined Development in Game of Thrones<\/em>\u201d   

10:20 Julia Jin Wang <\/strong>\u201cThe Affective Potentials of Writing: Fantastical Depictions of Mental Health Management in Murashige\u2019s The Lost Souls of Benzaiten<\/em>\u201d   

10:40 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td>		Panel 6B <\/strong> 
Science is Magic\/Magic is Science<\/strong> 
Chair: Eleanor Patterson 
Deputy Chair: Sophie Jemima O\u2019Reilly 
 
10:00 Laura Ciriza Martin <\/strong>\u201cUncertainty, struggle, choice and change\u201d: The One Power and the Scientific Structuring of Fantasy in Robert Jordan\u2019s The Wheel of Time<\/em>\u201d   

10:20 Nicole Love <\/strong>\u201cCommunities of Belief: Science \/ Magic as Technologies of the Fantastic in Alasdair Gray\u2019s Poor Things <\/em>and Ahmed Saadwai\u2019s Frankenstein in Baghdad<\/em>\u201d   

10:40 Siravich Khurat <\/strong>\u201cHosts of Homeostasis: Digital Monster as the Balance of Parallel Convergence between Fantasy and Science”   

11:00 Discussion <\/strong> <\/td>		Panel 6C<\/strong> 
Infrastructure and the Environment<\/strong> 
Chair: Sarah Bresnahan  Deputy Chair: Sophie Fink   

10:00 Sara Kabir \u201c<\/strong>Infrastructures of Care: Solarpunk, Science-Fantasy, and Ethical Technology in Sultana\u2019s Dream<\/em> and Monk and Robot<\/em>\u201d   

10:20 Ana Di\u00e9guez-Algaba <\/strong>\u201cThe Seeds of Downfall: Technology, Knowledge and Nature in \u201cAldarion and Erendis\u201d\u201d   

10:40 \u00d6zcan Kahraman <\/strong>\u201cSolar-Powered Fantasy: Video Game Infrastructure and Magical Systems in Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand<\/em>\u201d 

11:00 Discussion<\/strong>   <\/td><\/tr>
11:15 \u2013 11:30 Break<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
 
11:30 \u2013 12:30 Keynote: <\/strong>Maha Rafi Atal<\/strong> 
Chair: Anna McFarlane 
Deputy Chair: Mercury Natis <\/td><\/tr>
12:30 \u2013 1:30 Lunch Break<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
1:30 \u2013 2:45 Panels 7: Workshop<\/strong>  
(Ticketed attendees only; Zoom links available via Eventbrite)  

Beak, Feather, and Bone: A Collaborative Map-making Game about Fantastic Infrastructure <\/strong>with Stephen Goldfinch 
Deputy Chair:  Sophie Jemima O Reilly <\/td><\/tr>
2:45 \u2013 3:00 Break<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Panels 8<\/strong>  3:00 \u2013 4:15<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Panel 8A<\/strong> 
Postcolonial Reimaginings<\/strong> 
Chair: Sam Tegtmeyer 
Deputy Chair: Lara Toppel 

3:00 Cl\u00e1udio Augusto Carvalho Moura<\/strong> \u201cScience-Folk and the Fantastic in ‘O Auto da Maga Josefa’: Folklorized Technologies and Northeastern Brazilian Folklore\u201d 

3:20 Ishita Lahiri \u201c<\/strong>Jugaad-punk: Reframing Speculative Aesthetics through South Asian SF\u201d 

3:40 Zuleyha Cetiner-Oktem \u201c<\/strong>Mapping the Magical: Atlases, Footnotes, and the Archives of Authority\u201d 

4:00 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td>		Panel 8B<\/strong> 
Marginalized Futurities<\/strong> 
Chair: Mimi Markham 
Deputy Chair: Sophie Fink 

3:00 Caleb Berk <\/strong>\u201c\u201cWe Finish this Together\u201d: Queering Utopian Imagination through Magic and Technology in Netflix\u2019s Arcane<\/em>\u201d 

3:20 Zvonimir Prtenja\u010da <\/strong>\u201cYou think Ida B. Wells could have done what she did from a kitchen?\u201d: An Afrofuturist Feminist Reading of Bitter Root\u201d 

3:40 Mars Nicoli <\/strong>\u201cTransgender Technohorror\u201d 

4:00 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td>		Panel 8C <\/strong> 
Tabletop RPG: House Rules\/Whose Rules?<\/strong> 
Chair: Sarah Bresnahan 
Deputy Chair: Sophie Jemima O\u2019Reilly 

3:00 Mark Hines <\/strong>\u201cAragorn the Divider: Racebending in Magic: The Gathering\u2019s \u201cTales of Middle Earth\u201d and Deviant Excommunes.” 

3:20 Timothy R Granger \u201c<\/strong>Bureaucratic Magic in Jack Vance\u2019s Rhialto the Marvellous<\/em>\u201d 

3:40 Percy Truong <\/strong>\u201c\u2018Horror Lurks Within\u2019: World-building through Intratextuality and Intertextuality in Magic the Gathering\u2019s Innistrad Expansion.\u201d 

4:00 Discussion<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
4:15 \u2013 4:30 Break<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
4:30 \u2013 5:30<\/strong> Roundtable: Worldbuilding and Magic Systems<\/strong> 
Chair: Lea Warren 
Deputy Chair: Sam Tegtmeyer, Will Tattersdill <\/td><\/tr>
5:30 \u2013 5:45 Closing Remarks <\/strong>   <\/td><\/tr>
5:45 \u2013 6:00 Break<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
  6:00 \u2013 Onward: Game Streaming Event: Tactical Breach Wizards <\/strong>with Grace A.T. Worm on Discord   <\/td><\/tr>
  6:30 \u2013 Onward: Pub Night<\/strong> in person for attendees in or around Glasgow  
Location: Curler\u2019s Rest, 256-260 Byres Rd, Glasgow G12 8SH   <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Event registration can be found here. You must register for GIFCon to recieve links to all events! Speaker abstract and bios can be found here.Keynotes can be found here. The 2026 Reading List can be found here.Our post on How to Join the Discord can be found here. Please note this programme is subject to … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “GIFCon 2026: Technologies of the Fantastic Programme”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,5],"tags":[9,45],"class_list":["post-13134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conferences","category-events","tag-fantasy","tag-gifcon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13134"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13176,"href":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13134\/revisions\/13176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}