The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH)

TORCH is a nucleus of intellectual energy for the humanities and a place to develop new ideas and collaborations both within and beyond academia. Since its creation, TORCH has raised over £3 million in grants and philanthropy to support researchers to develop research projects. Launched in May 2013, TORCH provides an important opportunity for Oxford’s humanities scholars to collaborate with researchers across other disciplines, and institutions; work with academics across all stages of their academic careers; develop partnerships with public and private institutions; engage with wider audiences; and bring together academic research, diverse industries, and the performing arts. Public engagement with research is at the heart of TORCH's aims. During 2018-19, TORCH hosted almost 400 events, with audiences of over 20,000 people. During 2019-20, TORCH hosted online events during COVID-restrictions, reaching audiences in person and then online of over 50,000 globally. Since 2013, TORCH has supported 400 researchers each year; 62 Knowledge Exchange Fellowships; over 50 seed-funded research networks and 10 research programmes. The TORCH Director, Professor Wes Williams (wes.williams@seh.ox.ac.uk), welcomes questions about the centre and suggestions for research and wider engagement activities.

Series in this collection

All episodes

Title	Description	People	Date
Live and Let Die - in Greek Epic	Almut Fries explores the iconography of the black-figured wine jug in this TORCH Bite-Size talk at the Ashmolean Museum LiveFriday	Almut Fries	8 February, 2016
The Alfred Jewel and Kingship	Amy Faulkner explores how Alfred’s translations question what it means to be a good king in this TORCH Bite-Size talk at the Ashmolean Museum LiveFriday	Amy Faulkner	8 February, 2016
Great men and fallen heroes	Jessica Goodman explores how the meaning of ‘hero’ shifted in France in the late eighteenth-century in this TORCH Bite-Size talk at the Ashmolean Museum LiveFriday.	jessica Goodman	8 February, 2016
Knowledge Machines	How have digital technologies changed research practices in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities?	Eric Meyer, Lucie Burgess, Kathryn Eccles, James Smithies	5 February, 2016
Multiple Identities in a Frontier Land: Balkh and ‘The Iranians’	In this paper Dr. Arezou Azad focused on the region of Balkh in the north of modern-day Afghanistan, ancient Bactria	Arezou Azad	2 February, 2016
Ethnicity and Politics in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire: The Kurdish Case	Dr. Djene Bajalan talks as part of the Language and Community from the Armenian to Iranian Plateaux series	Djene Bajalan	26 January, 2016
Ilya Afanasyev and Nicholas S. M. Matheou Introduction	Opening remarks from Ilya Afanasyev and Nicholas S M Matheou	Ilya Afanasyev, Nicholas S M Matheou	26 January, 2016
Tom Chatfield on Humans and Machines in the Digital Age	Tom Chatfield talks as part of the "What does it mean to be human in the digital age?" event	Tom Chatfield	26 January, 2016
Chris Fletcher on Libraries in the Digital Age	Chris Fletcher talks as part of the "What does it mean to be human in the digital age?" event	Chris Fletcher	26 January, 2016
Emma Smith on Forgetting in the Digital Age	Emma Smith talks as part of the "What does it mean to be human in the digital age?" event	Emma Smith	26 January, 2016
Diane Lees on Museums and Heritage in the Digital Age	Diane Lees talks as part of the "What does it mean to be human in the digital age?" event	Diane Lees	26 January, 2016
What Does it Mean to be Human in the Digital Age?	A librarian, literary scholar, museum director and digital commentator explore how the digital age has shaped, and will continue to shape, the human experience and the humanities	Lynne Brindley, Tom Chatfield, Chris Fletcher, Diane Lees, Emma Smith	22 January, 2016
Crossing Boundaries: Medievalists in Cross-Disciplinary Conversation	Launch event for the TORCH programme Oxford Medieval Studies	Emma Dillon, Henrike Lähnemann, David Wallace, Chris Wickham	13 January, 2016
Framing the Past through Suffering and Victimhood – Kurdish Discourses of Identity	Christine Allison gives a talk as part of The Long History of Identity, Ethnicity, and Nationhood workshop	Christine Allison	5 January, 2016
Making Sense of Kurdish Identity During the Middle Ages: Political Factors and Cultural Crossroad	Boris James gives a talk as part of the The Long History of Identity, Ethnicity, and Nationhood workshop	Boris James	4 January, 2016
Factors Affecting Iranian Identities from the Early Islamic Era to the Sixteenth Century	Ahmad Ashraf gives a talk as part of the The Long History of Identity, Ethnicity, and Nationhood workshop	Ahmad Ashra	4 January, 2016
Constructions of Armenian Identity in the Early Medieval Period	Tim Greenwood gives a talk as part of the The Long History of Identity, Ethnicity, and Nationhood workshop	Tim Greenwood	4 January, 2016
Iranian ‘Identities’ in Pre-Modern Times – Reality or Myth?	Speaker: Bert Fragner (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna).	Bert Fragner	18 December, 2015
Death at the Museum	Highlights of the Ashmolean Museum's Halloween DEADFriday event.	University of Oxford	16 December, 2015
The Oxford Dodo: Culture at the Crossroads	An interdisciplinary panel discussion exploring the life and legacy of the dodo	multiple	7 December, 2015
The Dodo in the Museum	Director of the Museum of Natural History, Paul Smith, gives a presentation at ‘The Oxford Dodo: Culture at the Crossroads’	Paul Smith	7 December, 2015
The Dodo in Literature	Literary scholar Kirsten Shepherd-Barr’s presentation at ‘The Oxford Dodo: Culture at the Crossroads’	Kirsten Shepherd-Barr	7 December, 2015
The Dodo, Animal Icons and De-Extinction	Environmental researcher Paul Jepson’s presentation at ‘The Oxford Dodo: Culture at the Crossroads’	Paul Jepson	7 December, 2015
The Dodo and Creativity	Author Jasper Fforde’s presentation at ‘The Oxford Dodo: Culture at the Crossroads’	Jasper Fforde	4 December, 2015
The Dodo and Exploration	Historian of Science Pietro Corsi’s presentation at ‘The Oxford Dodo: Culture at the Crossroads’	Pietro Corsi	4 December, 2015
Heidegger and Phenomenology	Dr Joshua Broggi speaks at the Oxford Phenomenology Network seminar.	Joshua Broggi	3 December, 2015
Interview with Dr Sophie Ratcliffe	Practical Medical Humanities	Dr Sophie Ratcliffe	30 November, 2015
Interview with Dr Andrew Papanikitas	The importance of Medical Humanities in good medical practice	Dr Andrew Papanikitas	30 November, 2015
Interview with Dr Emma Mckenzie-Edwards	The use of Humanities in Medical Education	Dr Emma Mckenzie-Edwards	30 November, 2015
Interview with Dr Marion Lynch	Medical Humanities and Narratives	Dr Marion Lynch	30 November, 2015
Interview with Professor Stephen Lammers	Medical Humanities and Narratives	Professor Stephen Lammers	30 November, 2015
'Accidental Death in Tudor England'	Professor Steven Gunn and Dr Tomasz Gromelski gives a TORCH bite-size talk at the Ashmolean Museum's DEADFriday event	Dr Steven Gunn and Dr Tomasz Gromelski	24 November, 2015
Oscar Wilde's Love Beyond the Grave	Michèle Mendelssohn gives a TORCH bite-size talk at the Ashmolean Museum's DEADFriday event	Michèle Mendelssohn	24 November, 2015
'Death Masks: Facing the Dead'	Emily Knight gives a TORCH bite-size talk at the Ashmolean Museum's DEADFriday event	Emily Knight	24 November, 2015
‘Ophelia, Death and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’	Hannah Lyons gives a TORCH bite-size talk at the Ashmolean Museum's DEADFriday event	Hannah Lyons	24 November, 2015
'Crowley's Tarot and Egyptian Art'	John Dunning gives a TORCH bite-size talk at the Ashmolean Museum's DEADFriday event	John Dunning	24 November, 2015
‘Who owns your face when you are DEAD?’	Jane Caplan gives a TORCH bite-size talk at the Ashmolean Museum's DEADFriday event	Jane Caplan	24 November, 2015
'The Roman Art of Dying'	Paul Roberts gives a TORCH bite-size talk at the Ashmolean Museum's DEADFriday event	Paul Roberts	24 November, 2015
'Victorian Children's Literature and Death'	Franziska Kohlt gives a TORCH bite-size talk at the Ashmolean Museum's DEADFriday event	Franziska Kohlt	24 November, 2015
'A View from My Corpse'	Raymond Tallis gives a TORCH bite-size talk at the Ashmolean Museum's DEADFriday event	Raymond Tallis	24 November, 2015
Indian Arrivals, 1870-1915: Networks of British Empire	Elleke Boehmer discusses her new book with Megan Robb, Faisal Devji and Santanu Das	Elleke Boehmer, Faisal Devji, Megan Robb, Santanu Das, James Belich	23 November, 2015
Comparative Encounters between Artaud, Michaux and the Zhuangzi	Part of "Book at Lunchtime", a fortnightly series of bite size book discussions, with commentators from a range of disciplines. Xiaofan Amy Li discusses her new book "Comparative Encounters Between Artaud, Michaux and the Zhuangzi."	Xiofan Amy Li, Elleke Boehmer, Wang Xing, Matthew Reynolds, Marina Warner	20 November, 2015
The Lord of the Rings: Tolkien's Legacy	60 years since the publication of the series' final volume, a distinguished panel explore Tolkien's literary legacy	Elleke Boehmer, Stuart Lee, Patrick Curry, Dimitra Fimi, Andy Orchard	9 November, 2015
The Unconscious: a Concept or a Metaphor?	Andrew Mayes, and Angus Nicholls, give a talk for the Unconscious Memory seminar series.	Andrew Mayes, Angus Nicholls	2 November, 2015
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World	Peter Frankopan discusses his new book with Averil Cameron, Robert Moore and Elleke Boehmer	Peter Frankopan, Averil Cameron, Robert Moore, Elleke Boehmer	27 October, 2015
Ted Hughes: The Unauthorised Life	Jonathan Bate, Anne Farrar Donovan, Seamus Perry and Oliver Taplin discuss life-writing, poetry and the poet	Jonathan Bate, Seamus Perry, Oliver Taplin, Anne Farrar Donovan	20 October, 2015
The Pragmatic Enlightenment and Other Enlightenments	Dennis Rasmussen (Tufts University, Boston) discusses his book 'The Pragmatic Enlightenment'	Dennis Rasmussen	14 October, 2015
Too Valuable to Die?	Silke Ackermann, Nigel Biggar and Liz Bruton debate the ethics of science and scientists going to war	Silke Ackermann, Nigel Biggar, Liz Bruton	14 October, 2015
Periodic Tales	Author Hugh Aldersey-Williams, historian of science Jo Hedesan and chemist Peter Battle discuss the ways in which the elements continue to inspire us today	Hugh Aldersey-Williams, Jo Hedesan, Peter Battle	13 October, 2015
Interview with Michael Docherty	We catch up with Cancer Research UK's Director of Digital on fundraising in the digital age.	Michael Docherty	3 August, 2015
Fundraising through Digital	Michael Docherty (Cancer Research UK) on how clicktivists, slacktivists and hacktivists are helping us beat cancer sooner.	Michael Docherty	3 August, 2015
Callaloo Creative Writing Reading by Vievee Francis	Vievee reads poetry from her collection 'Forest Primeval'	Vievee Francis	24 July, 2015
Callaloo Creative Writing Reading by Maaza Mengiste	Maaza reads from her novel dealing with the Italian invasion of Ethiopia during the early days of the Second World War	Maaza Mengiste	24 July, 2015
Callaloo Literary Lecture and Reading by Fred d'Aguiar	Fred reads fiction and poems about his childhood in Guyana, remembering his father, and slavery	Fred d'Aguair	24 July, 2015
Disraeli's 'Venetia': Death of a Poet?	Michael Flavin demonstrates the way in which a critically unexplored novel, 'Venetia', sheds light on Disraeli's political formation.	Michael Flavin	8 July, 2015
Working with Hughenden Manor: Solving the Statesman’s Rooms	Oliver Cox (D.Phil, Oxford) and Rob Bandy (manager, Hughenden Manor) discuss the exciting partnership between Oxford University researchers and National Trust properties throughout the country.	Oliver Cox, Rob Bandy	8 July, 2015
Rediscovering Disraeli – One Letter at a Time	Michel Pharand, director of The Disraeli Project in Ontario, talks about piecing together Disraeli's story, one letter at a time.	Michel Pharand	8 July, 2015
Pegasus and Carthorse: The Many Shades of Disraeli’s Celebrity	Sandra Mayer assesses the intersections of literary and political fame in Disraeli’s public image.	Sandra Mayer	8 July, 2015
Scenes from Disraeli’s Extraordinary Life: Curating the Bodleian 2004 Exhibition and Widening Its Reach	An inside look at the 2002 Bodleian Library exhibition about Disraeli's extraordinary life.	Helen Langley	8 July, 2015
'A Jew in his heart': The Reception of Disraeli's Judaism	A dynamic exploration of shifts in historical writing about Disraeli's Judaism between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.	Megan Kearney	8 July, 2015
The impossibility/Possibility Debate: Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off	Professor Laura Doan talks on the future of Women's Studies in 'The impossibility/Possibility Debate: Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.	Laura Doan	22 June, 2015
Still Brave? U.S Black Feminism as a Social Justice Project	Professor Patricia Hill Collins talks on black feminism today in 'Still Brave? U.S Black Feminism as a Social Justice Project	Patricia Hill Collins	22 June, 2015
Sisters comin’ together’: Female Rappers and Collaboration	Charis Dishman presents her Master's thesis entitled ‘Sisters comin’ together’: Female Rappers and Collaboration'.	Charis Dishman	22 June, 2015
Fag Hags, Breeders and Idols: Women’s Representation in pre-Stonewall Homosexual Fiction.	Eleri Anona Watson presents her Master's thesis entitled Fag Hags, Breeders and Idols: Women’s Representation in pre-Stonewall Homosexual Fiction.	Eleri Anona Watson	22 June, 2015
Battles for Benefits: Marginalizing Women Veterans in the Medicalization of PTSD	Kiley Hunkler presents her Master's work on ‘Battles for Benefits’: Marginalizing Women Veterans in the Medicalization of PTSD'.	Kiley Hunkler	22 June, 2015
A Path So Twisted: Thinking Wildly With and Through Punk-Feminisms	Professor Jack Halberstam discusses trigger warnings and social justice in 'A Path So Twisted’: Thinking Wildly With and Through Punk-Feminisms'.	Jack Halberstam	22 June, 2015
Expanding the Field of Film Philosophy with the Ever - Transgressive Iris Murdoch	Dr Lucy Bolton talks on her work in Film Philosophy as well as Iris Murdoch and cinema.	Lucy Bolton	22 June, 2015
Fiction of Development: Narrative, Representation and Authoritative Knowledge	Charlotte De Val presents her Master's thesis entitled 'Fiction of Development: Narrative, Representation and Authoritative Knowledge.'	Charlotte De Val	22 June, 2015
The Poems were my Dance: Speaking Histories, Cultural Subjectivities, and the Embodies Writer in Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze’s? The Fifth Figure	Emma Kelley presents her Master's thesis entitled 'The Poems were my Dance: Speaking Histories, Cultural Subjectivities, and the Embodies Writer in Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze’s ?The Fifth Figure'	Emma Kelley	22 June, 2015
Personal Relics and National Treasures: The Canonization of Julia Margaret Cameron	Ellie Jones presents her Master's thesis entitled 'Personal Relics and National Treasures: The Canonization of Julia Margaret Cameron'.	Ellie Jones	22 June, 2015
Mastering Women’s Studies? Habitus and Hazards	Professor Ros Ballaster talks on the beginning of the Women's Studies course at Oxford in 'Mastering Women's Studies? Habitus and Hazards'	Ros Ballaster	22 June, 2015
The Unspeakability of Trauma, the Unspeakability of Joy: The Pursuit of the Real at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century	A lecture by Amy Hollywood with response from Kate Kirkpatrick and Johannes Depnering.	Amy Hollywood, Kate Kirkpatrick, Johannes Depnering	18 June, 2015
Henry Adams, Henry James, and Minnie Temple: The Pursuit of the Real at the Turn of the 20th Century	A lecture by Amy Hollywood.	Amy Hollywood	18 June, 2015
The Real, the True, and Critique: Mysticism in the Study of Religion	A lecture by Amy Hollywood with response from Vincent Gillespie and Joana Serrado.	Amy Hollywood, Vincent Gillespie, Joana Serrado, Kate Kilpatrick	18 June, 2015
Phenomenology and Health	A highlights video from the one-day conference	Andrew Papanikitas, Anna Kirkengen	15 June, 2015
Suffering History: Phenomenology at the Intersection of Disease and Illness	A presentation by Austin Argentieri.	Austin Argentieri	10 June, 2015
Proustian Memory	Professor Gordon Shepherd (Yale) ‘Reassessing Mechanisms of Autobiographical Memory’ and Dr Kirsten Shepherd-Barr (St Catherine’s, Oxford) ‘Madeleines and Neuromodernism’. Chaired by Dr Sowon Park (Corpus Christi, Oxford)	Gordon Shepherd, Kirsten Shepherd-Barr	4 June, 2015
Leviathan and the Air Pump: Highlights	Historians of Science David Wootton and Michael Hunter review the controversial book 50 years on	Ritchie Robertson, David Wootton, Michael Hunter	28 May, 2015
Love's Labour's Lost	Emma Smith continues her Approaching Shakespeare series with a lecture on the play Love's Labour's Lost.	Emma Smith	27 May, 2015
Rubble Flora: Volker Braun Poetry Reading	The German poet gives a special reading of old and new work and answers questions with David Constantine and Karen Leeder.	Volker Braun, David Constantine, Karen Leeder	20 May, 2015
Theatre and Evolution from Ibsen to Beckett	An interdisciplinary discussion of Kirsten Shepherd-Barr's book	Kirsten Shepherd-Barr, Michael Billington, Morten Kringlebach, Laura Marcus	20 May, 2015
Aristotle on Perceiving Objects	A discussion of Anna Marmodoro's book	Anna Marmodoro, Ophelia Deroy, Richard Sorabji, Rowland Stout	14 May, 2015
Light in Germany: Scenes from an Unknown Enlightenment	A discussion of Jim Reed's book	Jim Reed, Joachim Whaley, Kevin Hilliard, Ritchie Robertson	12 May, 2015
Leviathan and the Air Pump: Thirty Years On	The historian of science David Wootton reviews the controversial dispute between Robert Boyle and Thomas Hobbes, followed by a reply from Boyle's biographer Michael Hunter	Ritchie Robertson, David Wootton, Michael Hunter	12 May, 2015
Neuroscience and Psychoanalysis	Richard Brown( Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University) and Mark Solms (Chair of Neuropsychology, University of Cape Town) give the fourth talk in the Unconscious Memory series.	Richard Brown, Mark Solms	7 May, 2015
Wildlife in the Anthropocene: Conservation after Nature	An interdisciplinary discussion of Jamie Lorimer's book	Jamie Lorimer, William Beinart, Daniel Grimley, Nikolaj Lübecker	6 May, 2015
That Other Place: Art and Alzheimer's	A short video about a recent exhibition of photography and film	Helen Statham, Victoria McGuinness, Nicola Onions	28 April, 2015
Humanities and Science: Representing Science	An interdisciplinary discussion exploring the many possible approaches to representing science through the arts, as well as potential challenges	Kirsten Shepherd-Barr, Heidi Johansen-Berg, Jason Gaiger, Annie Cattrell, Dan O'Connor	17 March, 2015
The Perfect Theory: A Century of Geniuses and the Battle over General Relativity	A discussion exploring Pedro Ferreira's book	Pedro Ferreira, Harvey Brown, Alex Butterworth, Javier Lezaun, Xenia de la Ossa.	16 March, 2015
Humanities and Science: Culture and Technology	An interdisciplinary discussion exploring culture’s interaction with technology	Maria Blanco, Fritz Vollrath, Andrew Wilson, Lionel Tarassenko, Gregory Radick	16 March, 2015
Observing by Hand: Sketching the Nebulae in the Nineteenth Century	A discussion of Omar Nasim's book	Omar Nasim, Stephen Johnston, Martin Kemp, Chris Lintott	16 March, 2015
Oxford University International Women's Day 2015	Feminists, acadeamics and journalists reflect on feminism's achievements and future path.	Selina Todd, Senia Paseta, Melissa Benn, Trudy Coe, Caroline Criado-Perez, Imaobong Umoren	16 March, 2015
Wayne McGregor: Neuroscience and Dance	Wayne McGregor (Director, Random Dance) talks about his choreographic practice with Dr Phil Barnard, (MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge) and Eckhard Thiemann (Arts Producer).	Wayne McGregor, Phil Barnard, Eckhard Thiemann	16 March, 2015
Faith and Wisdom in Science	A Book at Lunchtime discussion with Tom McLeish, Sally Shuttleworth, John Christie and Ard A. Louis	Tom McLeish, Sally Shuttleworth, John Christie, Ard Louis	19 February, 2015
Priming	Professor Masud Husain and Dr Ben Morgan give the third Unconscious Memory talk.	Masud Husain, Ben Morgan	18 February, 2015
Unconscious Memory and Mental Space	Professor Michael Burke and Dr Sebastian Groes give the second Unconscious Memory talk.	Michael Burke, Sebastian Groes	18 February, 2015
Exploring the Two Cultures	Professor Larry Squire and Dr Simon Kemp give the first Unconscious Memory Seminar.	Larry Squire, Simon Kemp	18 February, 2015
Humanities and Science: Randomness and Order	An interdisciplinary discussion exploring the role of randomness and order in physics, probability, history and music.	Ian Walmsley, Jonathan Cross, Alison Etheridge, Chris Wickham	18 February, 2015
The Stressed Sex: Uncovering the Truth About Men, Women, and Mental Health	An interdisciplinary panel of scholars discuss Daniel Freeman's book	Daniel Freeman, Elaine Fox, Avner Offer, Janet Radcliffe Richards	9 February, 2015
Humanities and Science: Mental Health	An interdisciplinary discussion exploring the role of the humanities in mental health.	Edward Harcourt, John Geddes, Matthew Broome, Emily Troscianko, Joshua Hordern	9 February, 2015

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