Splijtstof Student Conference: ‘Disease’

The Splijtstof editorial team is proud to present their second student conference, based on the theme of ‘Disease’!

You are invited to attend a day of philosophical inquiry into ‘Disease’ and its thematic manifestations in various specialisations, from psychiatry, psychoanalysis, culture studies, animal ethics, political philosophy, gender studies and much more. The event will take place from 09:00 – 17:00 on Thursday, December 4, 2025, in Radboud University’s Erasmus Building (E15.39/41). It will be moderated by Marleen van Haalen and Dr. Tim Miechels (Metaphysics and Philosophical Anthropology).

Conference Schedule

09:00 – Welcome and Coffee

09:30 – 09:40 – Introduction to ‘Disease’

09:40 – 10:10 – Jacque Marliin: Road rage and death-drive, community and self-destruction: A case study in Maltese punk music and driving culture

10:20 – 11:20 –Vivienne Matthies-Boon, Chiara Silipigni, Gert Olthuis, and Léon de Bruin: ‘Disease’ Expert Panel

11:30 – 12:00 – Thomas de Bruin: Deleuze and the Hysterization of Painting

12:00 – 13:00 – Lunch

13:00 – 13:30 – Anne Koekkoek: Trust webs surrounding Adolescents in Psychiatric Home-Based Care

13:40 – 14:10 – Angela Bonett: The Stranger’s Pacemaker: Opposing Homogeneity and Agelessness through Jean-Luc Nancy’s The Intruder

14:20 – 14:50 – Kurt Zammit: A Psychoanalytic Attempt to Witness the New Wounded

14:50 – 15:10 – Coffee Break

15:10 – 15:40 – Jonathan Zackor: Model collapse in Gen-AI as a travelling concept: Post-truth as a human and a machine disease

15:50 – 16:20 – Sophie Ingle: Narrating the Pigeonholes: A Manifestation of the Non-Human Animal Abject

16:30 – 17:00 – Charlie Chowdhry: Dysphoria and Dis-Ease: Pathologising Non-Conformity and Political Malcontent

17:00 Onwards – Concluding Remarks and Drinks in the CultuurCafé (at your own expense)

Confirmed Speakers

Vivienne Matthies-Boon (Ethics and Political Philosophy)

Chiara Silipigni (Biomedical Ethics)

Gert Olthuis (RadboudUMC)

Léon de Bruin (Philosophy of Mind and Language)

Anne Koekkoek (RadboudUMC, Medicine)

Jacque Marliin (Metaphysics and Philosophical Anthropology)

Jonathan Zackor (Art and Visual Culture)

Angela Bonett (Metaphysics and Philosophical Anthropology)

Sophie Ingle (Ethics and Political Philosophy)

Kurt Zammit (Metaphysics and Philosophical Anthropology)

Thomas de Bruin (Metaphysics and Philosophical Anthropology)

Charlie Chowdhry (Ethics and Political Philosophy)

The 2025 Splijtstof Student Conference has been organised by the editors-in-chief, a small committee, and with support from an independent artist. Sophie and Charlie offer a special thanks to Fleur van Schaijk, Yula van Nederveen Meerkerk, Jesse Germans, Luca Bemporad Whitehead, Andreea Jianu, Patrizio Caldara, and Anne van Aken.