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
Personalised Medicine, interview with Marion Lynch	Personalised Medicine: the promise, the hype and the pitfalls, a short interview with Marion Lynch	Marion Lynch	18 January, 2017
Personalised Medicine, interview with Mark Lawler	Personalised Medicine: the promise, the hype and the pitfalls, a short interview with Mark Lawler	Mark Lawler	18 January, 2017
Personalised Medicine, interview with Alastair Kent	Personalised Medicine: the promise, the hype and the pitfalls, a short interview with Alastair Kent	Alastair Kent	18 January, 2017
Personalised Medicine, interview with Rick Kaplan	Personalised Medicine: the promise, the hype and the pitfalls, a short interview with Rick Kaplan	Rick Kaplan	18 January, 2017
Personalised Medicine, interview with Muir Gray	Personalised Medicine: the promise, the hype and the pitfalls, a short interview with Muir Gray	Muir Gray	18 January, 2017
Drawing the Line: Toward an Aesthetic of Transitional Justice	This Postcolonial Writing and Theory Seminar is on 'Drawing the Line: Toward an Aesthetic of Transitional Justice' with speaker Carrol Clarkson (University of Amsterdam).	Carrol Clarkson	6 January, 2017
FRIGHT Friday - Stretched to Breaking Point	Dan Holloway gives a talk for the FRIGHT Friday series of talks, held in the Ashmolean Museum on 25th November 2016.	Dan Holloway	12 December, 2016
FRIGHT Friday - Gothic Horror: Medicine and Monsters	Dr Andrew Papanikitas gives a talk for the FRIGHT Friday series of talks, held in the Ashmolean Museum on 25th November 2016.	Andrew Papanikitas	12 December, 2016
FRIGHT Friday - Fear and Flesh: Gothic Medicine	Dr Barry Murname gives a talk for the FRIGHT Friday series of talks, held in the Ashmolean Museum on 25th November 2016.	Barry Murname	12 December, 2016
FRIGHT Friday - Fear of Cats and Other Phobias	Professor Sally Shuttleworth gives a talk for the FRIGHT Friday series of talks, held in the Ashmolean Museum on 25th November 2016.	Sally Shuttleworth	12 December, 2016
FRIGHT Friday - Parenting, Fear, Hope and Salvation	Dr Joshua Hordern gives a talk for the FRIGHT Friday series of talks, held in the Ashmolean Museum on 25th November 2016.	Joshua Hordern	12 December, 2016
FRIGHT Friday - Embodying Life and Death	Professor Cathy Morgan gives a talk for the FRIGHT Friday series of talks, held in the Ashmolean Museum on 25th November 2016.	Cathy Morgan	12 December, 2016
Women’s Studies and Gender Studies Roundtable	The Gender and Authority TORCH Network, in collaboration with the Centre for Gender, Identity, and Subjectivity, hosted a roundtable discussion at Balliol College on 2 November 2016.	Mara Keire, Maria Jaschok, Khin Mar Mar Kyi, Joana Serrado, Julia Mannherz, Alison Moulds, Adele Bardazzi, David Bowe, Natalya Din-Kariuki, Julia Caterina Hartley	18 November, 2016
Martin Luther - Renegade and Prophet	Part of the Book at Lunchtime series	Lyndal Roper, Laura Marcus, Simeon Zahl, Jas Elsner, Almut Suerbaum	8 November, 2016
TORCH Gender and Authority Research Network, Seminar 4, University of Oxford, 19 October 2016	Gender and Authority Seminar 4: Sahba Shayani (University of Oxford) and Victoria Van Hyning (University of Oxford).	Adele Bardazzi, David Bowe, Natalya Din-Kariuki, Julia Caterina Hartley, Victoria Van Hyning	22 October, 2016
TORCH Gender and Authority Research Network, Seminar 3, University of Oxford, 1 June 2016	Gender and Authority Seminar 3: Lynn Ellen Burkett (Western Caroline University) and Alexis Brown (University of Oxford).	Adele Bardazzi, David Bowe, Natalya Din-Kariuki, Julia Caterina Hartley, Alexis Brown, Lyn E. Barkett	22 October, 2016
Sharing Sacred Spaces in Early Modern Germany	With David Lubeke (University of Oregon)	David Lubeke	21 October, 2016
What We Cannot Know	Part of the TORCH Book at Lunchtime series	Marcus du Sautoy, Anita Avramides, Chrystalina Antoniades, Ben Morgan	21 October, 2016
The Prelude	Part of the TORCH Book at Lunchtime series	James Engell, Fiona Stafford, Emily Knight, Steven Matthews	21 October, 2016
Women in Oxford's History: Rose Potter Clarributt	Exploring the life of Rose Potter Clarributt: long-serving matron of the Radcliffe Infirmary	Olivia Robinson, Alison Moulds, Hannah Newson	19 October, 2016
Women in Oxford's History: Elizabeth Wordsworth	Exploring the life of Elizabeth Wordsworth: founding principal of Lady Margaret Hall and founder of St Hugh's College	Olivia Robinson, Alison Moulds	19 October, 2016
Women in Oxford's History: Maria Czaplicka	Exploring the life of Maria Czaplicka: Polish anthropologist of Siberian indigenous people	Olivia Robinson, Alison Moulds, Jaanika Vider	19 October, 2016
Women in Oxford's History: Ida Busbridge	Exploring the life of Ida Busbridge: promoter of women's education at St Hugh's College	Olivia Robinson, Alison Moulds, Bethany White	19 October, 2016
Women in Oxford's History: Kofoworola Moore	Exploring the life of Kofoworola Moore: first black woman to graduate from the University of Oxford	Olivia Robinson, Alison Moulds, JC Niala	19 October, 2016
Women in Oxford's History: C. Violet Butler	Exploring the life of C. Violet Buter: philanthropist, social researcher, and educator	Olivia Robinson, Alison Moulds, Kathryne Crossley	19 October, 2016
Interview with Neil MacGregor	Neil MacGregor talks about the public engagement at the British Museum.	Neil MacGregor	12 October, 2016
Unlocking Late Schumann Episode 4	Schumann and literature (opp. 132 and 133)	Laura Tunbridge, Barry Murnane, Tim Horton	12 October, 2016
Unlocking Late Schumann Episode 3	Schumann's Maria Stuart songs	Laura Tunbridge, Sarah Connolly, Eugene Asti, Richard Wigmore, Roger Vignoles	12 October, 2016
Unlocking Late Schumann Episode 1	Schumann in 1849	Laura Tunbridge, Frankie Perry, Richard Wigmore, Roger Vignoles	12 October, 2016
Unlocking Late Schumann Episode 2	Schumann's Lenau lieder	Laura Tunbridge, James Gilchrist, Richard Wigmore, Roger Vignoles	12 October, 2016
The Fires of Faith	The Babsybanoo, Machionness of Winchester Lecture with Neil MacGregor	Neil MacGregor	7 September, 2016
Digital Unwrapping: Homer, Herculaneum, and the Scroll from Ein Gedi	With Dirk Obbink (Associate Professor in Papyrology and Greek Literature, Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford)	Dirk Obbink	19 August, 2016
Digital Unwrapping: Homer, Herculaneum, and the Scroll from Ein Gedi	With Brent Seales (Professor of Computer Science, University of Kentucky)	Brent Seales	19 August, 2016
Digital Unwrapping: Homer, Herculaneum, and the Scroll from Ein Gedi	With Brent Seales and Dirk Obbink	Brent Seales, Dirk Obbink	19 August, 2016
Session 6	Sixth session in the Perceptions of Inequality: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue, held in Oxford in June 2016.	Elleke Boehmer, Roger Crisp, Ashwini Deshpande, Devaki Jain	9 August, 2016
Session 5	Fifth session in the Perceptions of Inequality: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue, held in Oxford in June 2016.	Elleke Boehmer, Francesca Rhodes, Lloyd Pratt, Tarunabh Khaitan	9 August, 2016
Session 4	Fourth session in the Perceptions of Inequality: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue, held in Oxford in June 2016.	Diane Elson, Elleke Boehmer, Linda McDowell, Roger Crisp	9 August, 2016
Session 3	Third session in the Perceptions of Inequality: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue, held in Oxford in June 2016.	Alfred Gathorne-Hardy, Ashwini Deshpande, Devaki Jain, Diane Elson, Anthony Heath	9 August, 2016
Session 2	Second session in the Perceptions of Inequality: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue, held in Oxford in June 2016.	Elleke Boehmer, Roger Crisp, Lloyd Pratt, Ashwini Deshpande	9 August, 2016
Session 1	First session in the Perceptions of Inequality: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue, held in Oxford in June 2016.	Devaki Jain, Roger Crisp, Martin O'Neill, Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington	9 August, 2016
Why We Need the Humanities	How has humanities scholarship influenced biomedical research and civil liberties and how can scholars serve the common good?	Donald Drakeman, Richard Ekins, Jay Sexton, Helen Small	27 July, 2016
The Prospect of Global History	How can global history can be applied instead of advocated?	James Belich, Elleke Boehmer, Richard Drayton, Hannah-Louise Clark	27 July, 2016
The Concept of 'Umma' in Early Islam	Fred Donner (University of Chicago) addresses the nebulous, often misunderstood concept of 'umma' in early Islam	Fred Donner	7 July, 2016
The Role of Religion in Identity	Julia Bray (University of Oxford) delivers a keynote lecture on the role of religion in identity	Julia Bray	7 July, 2016
TORCH Gender and Authority Research Network, Seminar 1, University of Oxford, 2 March 2016	TORCH Gender and Authority Research Network, Seminar 1 featuring Mary Harrod and Susan Garrard.	Adele Bardazzi, David Bowe, Natalya Din-Kariuki, Julia Caterina Hartley, Mary Harrod, Susan Garrard	6 July, 2016
TORCH Gender and Authority Research Network, Seminar 2, University of Oxford, 11 May 2016	Gender and Authority Seminar 2: Amy Donovan Blondell, ‘Gender, Self-determination and Authority: Homeless Young Women Navigate Life on the Road’.	Adele Bardazzi, David Bowe, Natalya Din-Kariuki, Julia Caterina Hartley, Amy Donovan Blondell	6 July, 2016
Authenticity	Three speakers examine Authenticity in the 8th Unconscious Memory seminar.	Andrew Parker, Hannah Drayson, Matthew Reynolds	4 July, 2016
And all this time it dwells behind the door	Annie Freud, the award-winning poet and artist, will talk about where her poems come from, her development as an artist and writer, and the relationship between her poems and paintings.	Annie Freud, Sowon Park	4 July, 2016
Political wisdom and deep devotion: The introduction of the Reformation in Southern Lower Saxony by Elisabeth of Brandenburg, Duchess of Calenberg-Gottingen	Ruth Gornandt gives a talk for the Women's responses to the Reformation, held in Oxford on 23rd June 2016.	Ruth Gornandt	28 June, 2016
'Print therefore good Lord, and write these examples in my memory': The Forgotten History of Writing and Printing Lady Abergavenny's Prayers	Louise Horton gives a talk for the Women's responses to the Reformation, held in Oxford on 23rd June 2016.	Louise Horton	28 June, 2016
Danish Noblewomen's Use of Manuscript Prayer Books c. 1550-1600	Marie Møller Christensen gives a talk for the Women's responses to the Reformation, held in Oxford on 23rd June 2016.	Marie Møller Christensen	28 June, 2016
Textual Negotiation and Resistance of Female Religious Communities Facing Reformation	Elizabeth Goodwin gives a talk for the Women's responses to the Reformation, held in Oxford on 23rd June 2016.	Elizabeth Goodwin	28 June, 2016
Sin and Salvation: Churching as a disciplinary tool in Early Modern Denmark	Mette Ahlefeldt-Laurvig gives a talk for the Women's responses to the Reformation, held in Oxford on 23rd June 2016.	Mette Ahlefeldt-Laurvig	28 June, 2016
Brandenburg's Calvinist Turn and the Portrayal of Dynastic Women	Prof Sara Smart (Exeter) gives a talk for the Women's responses to the Reformation, held in Oxford on 23rd June 2016.	Sara Smart	28 June, 2016
Recording women's responses to the Reformation: Henry Jessey as "relator" of Sarah Wight's religious prophecy in The Exceeding Riches of Grace (1647)	Claire McGann gives a talk for the Women's responses to the Reformation, held in Oxford on 23rd June 2016.	Claire McGann	28 June, 2016
The women behind the prophecies: A discussion of Ursula Jost and her printer Margarethe Prüss	Nicola Deboys gives a talk for the Women's responses to the Reformation, held in Oxford on 23rd June 2016.	Nicola Deboys	28 June, 2016
Of Martyrs and Makhanas: Jesuits and Gender in the Seventeenth-Century Marianas Mission	Prof Ulrike Strasser (UC San Diego) gives a talk for the Women's Responses to the Reformation conference.	Ulrike Strasser	27 June, 2016
Useful Frames and Dead Pasteboard	Sarah Hook looks at Victorian photographic card portraits, and charts their appearances in novels and poems from the period.	Sarah Hook	7 June, 2016
David Garrick's Wigless Celebrity	Ruth Scobie's bite-sized talk on a portrait of David Garrick by Johan Zoffany	Ruth Scobie	7 June, 2016
Chasing Butterflies: Capturing the Transience of Childhood	Emily Knight talks at the Ashmolean Museum about eighteenth-century portraits of children.	Emily Knight	7 June, 2016
The Death Masks of Macbeth	Professor Simon Palfrey discusses the deaths and afterlives of Oliver Cromwell and Macbeth	Simon Palfrey	7 June, 2016
Andy Warhol's Girls	Eleri Watson explores Andy Warhol's relationships with women.	Eleri Watson	7 June, 2016
Messages through Ashmolean Portraits	Vicky McGuinness's bite-sized talk at Ashmolean LiveFriday: Framed	Victoria McGuinness	7 June, 2016
Empire and Identity: Imperial Rule and Peoplehood across Time and Place	A round table discussion of empire's role in identity formation across time and place.	Miles Larmer, Elisabeth Bolorinos Allard, Bryan Ward-Perkins, Florian Schwarz, Michael Khodarkovsky, Emma Dench, Ilya Afanasyev	25 May, 2016
How English Became English	A Book at Lunchtime discussion looking at the English language and how it is developing with Simon Horobin, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, Martin Wynne, Philip Durkin and Susie Dent.	Simon Horobin, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, Martin Wynne, Philip Durkin, Susie Dent.	6 May, 2016
Rereading East Germany	A Book at Lunchtime discussion tracing the cultural legacy of the GDR with Karen Leeder, Dennis Tate, Sara Jones, Marc Silberman and Tom Smith	Karen Leeder, Dennis Tate, Sara Jones, Marc Silberman, Tom Smith	5 May, 2016
Thinking with Literature	A Book at Lunchtime discussion with Terence Cave about literature's links to cognitive science.	Terence Cave, Marina Warner, Ilona Roth, Deirdre Wilson, Emily Trosianko	28 April, 2016
Knowledge Exchange Highlights	Highlights from the Knowledge Exchange Showcase, 26 November 2015.	Joshua Hordern, Andrew Papanikitas, Barry Murnane, Laura Tunbridge, Martyn Harry, Tiffany Stern	28 April, 2016
Markets and Healthcare - Andrew Papanikitas	Dr Andrew Papanikitas discusses markets and healthcare	Andrew Papanikitas	6 April, 2016
Markets and Healthcare - Mahima Mitra	Dr Mahima Mitra discusses markets and healthcare	Mahima Mitra	6 April, 2016
Markets and Healthcare - Anant Jani	Dr Anant Jani discusses markets and healthcare	Anant Jani	6 April, 2016
Empathy - Jeremy Howick	Dr Jeremy Howick discusses empathy in healthcare	Jeremy Howick	6 April, 2016
Markets and Healthcare - Therese Feiler	Dr Therese Feiler discusses markets and healthcare	Therese Feiler	6 April, 2016
Personalised Medicine - Joshua Hordern	Dr Joshua Hordern discusses personalised medicine	Joshua Hordern	6 April, 2016
Texts, Talks and Tailoring: Adichie and her Fashion Politics	Matthew Lecznar assesses the fashion politics of Adichie's fiction and public discourse	Matthew Lecznar	3 April, 2016
Hemingway vs Gellhorn: A Famous D-Day Rivalry	Kate McLoughlin offers an intriguing case study of the gendering of writerly fame.	Kate McLoughlin	3 April, 2016
Between Morality and the Marketplace: Literary Celebrity and the Transatlantic Anti-Slavery Movement	Simon Morgan discusses the tensions within the transatlantic anti-slavery movement between literary celebrity and moral responsibility.	Simon Morgan	3 April, 2016
The Rhetoric of Fame: Persuading the People in Early Modern England	Kate De Rycker demonstrates that the social role of 16th-century English writers was becoming increasingly affected by the developing concept of celebrity.	Kate De Rycker	3 April, 2016
Disraeli's 'Spectre of Unsatisfied Ambition': Literary Celebrity in/and Political Office	Sandra Mayer explores Disraeli's dual commitment to art and action against the background of Victorian celebrity culture.	Sandra Mayer	2 April, 2016
Authorship, Politics, Celebrity: Theoretical and Methodological Perspectives	In this roundtable discussion, Caroline Davis, Olivier Driessens, and Peter D McDonald reflect on literature as a mode of public intervention.	Elleke Boehmer, Caroline Davis, Olivier Driessens, Peter D McDonald	2 April, 2016
Significant Form	Semir Zeki gives a presentation entitled; The Neurobiology of Beauty, and Gerhard Lauer gives a talk entitled, Is there an Aesthetic Experience in this Experiment? The Chair is Professor Andrew Parker.	Semir Zeki, Gerhard Lauer, Andrew Parker	18 March, 2016
Closing Reflections	The closing reflections of speakers Professor Joshua Hordern and Stephen Bergman.	Joshua Hordern, Professor Stephen Bergman	8 March, 2016
Book at Lunchtime: Arcadia	A Book at Lunchtime discussion of Iain Pears' interactive novel Arcadia	Elleke Boehmer, Alex Butterworth, Emily Short, Iain Pears, Richard Beard, Sophie Ratcliffe	7 March, 2016
Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials'	Margaret Kean explores how Philip Pullman plays with the idea of communication across different media in his trilogy	Margaret Kean	4 March, 2016
Middle Earth and Tolkien's Digital Afterlives	Stuart Lee traces how Tolkien's Middle-earth and especially 'The Lord of the Rings' have been reimagined through a range of digital technologies, from games to films	Stuart Lee	4 March, 2016
Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland	Robert Douglas-Fairhurst explores how every generation has created its own Wonderland, and why we are still so curious about Alice’s dreamworld	Robert Douglas-Fairhurst	4 March, 2016
The Stories of Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkien and Philip Pullman	Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Stuart Lee and Margaret Kean explore the digital afterlives of these celebrated storytellers	Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Stuart Lee, Margaret Kean	4 March, 2016
Are the Humanities More Digital than the Sciences?	A panel discussion with Howard Hotson, Andrew Prescott, Dave De Roure and Heather Viles	Howard Hotson, Andrew Prescott, Dave De Roure, Heather Viles, Kathryn Eccles	2 March, 2016
A Great Unrecorded History. LGBT Heritage and World Cultures	Professor Parkinson discusses how to mobilise historical research into sexuality for maximum impact and the institutional, cultural and political issues that can be at stake, and suggests some of the possible uses of LGBTQ history.	Richard Parkinson	25 February, 2016
Masterclass Medingen Manuscripts: Abbess Bärbel Görcke (Mariensee): The Prayer-Book of Abbess Odilia	Multiple presentations from the German Studies Staff	Henrike Lähnemann, Abbess Bärbel Görcke	22 February, 2016
Masterclass Medingen Manuscripts: Ulrike Hascher-Burger (Utrecht): Musical Notation	Presentations about the Medingen Manuscripts	Henrike Lähnemann, Ulrike Hascher-Burger	22 February, 2016
Masterclass Medingen Manuscripts: Alan Coates (Oxford): The Incunable Traces	Presentations about the Medingen Manuscripts	Henrike Lähnemann, Alan Coates	22 February, 2016
Masterclass Medingen Manuscripts: Nigel F. Palmer (Oxford): Cistercian Punctuation	Presentations about the Medingen Manuscripts	Henrike Lähnemann, Nigel Palmer	22 February, 2016
Masterclass Medingen Manuscripts: Andrew Honey (Oxford): The Plaque in the Psalter and the Bindings	Presentations about the Medingen Manuscripts	Henrike Lähnemann, Andrew Honey	22 February, 2016
Masterclass Medingen Manuscripts: Henrike Lähnemann (Oxford): Introduction	Presentations about the Medingen Manuscripts	Henrike Lähnemann	22 February, 2016
The Future of the Professions	In an era when machines can out-perform human beings at most tasks what are the prospects for employment?	Richard Susskind, Daniel Susskind, Joshua Hordern, Vili Lehdonvirta, Judy Wajcman, Kahtryn Eccles	16 February, 2016
Wharton in Wartime	A roundtable discussion to mark the publication of Alice Kelly's critical edition of Edith Wharton's First World War reportage Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort (Edinburgh University Press, 2015).	Alice Kelly, Shafquat Towheed, Dame Hermione Lee, Elleke Boehmer	11 February, 2016
Heroes and Villains in Game of Thrones	Dr Carolyne Larrington gives a talk about Game of Thrones and the often complicated morality its characters have. Part of the Ashmolean Live Friday event on 29th January 2016.	Carolyne Larrington	10 February, 2016
Intravenous anaesthesia on Turner's High Street	Dr Alessia Pannese explores a painted documentation of a relatively little known event in Oxford local history: the first intravenous anaesthesia during this TORCH Bite-Size talk at the Ashmolean Museum LiveFriday	Alessia Pannese	9 February, 2016
Valour, betrayal and desire: heroes and villains in Indian paintings	Nisha Somasundaram explores both male and female heroes and demons in Indian epics in this TORCH Bite-Size talk at the Ashmolean Museum LiveFriday.	Nisha Somasundaram	9 February, 2016

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