NEW TOUR LAUNCH: UNNATUAL HISTORIES

Join us for a unique tour of the Natural History Museum in Oxford! We'll explore how human influence and selective choice shape the narrative of natural history museums, offering an 'unnatural' perspective on their historical and ideological foundations.

Engraving showing two children looking at some writing on a stone.

Death, Taxes, and Other Uncertainties

In Oxford, the River Thames is reborn as the Isis, sharing its name with the …

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Side-by-side black and white pictures of the same man in black tie costume (left) and wearing Ottoman or middle-eastern syle dress (left)

Unburying an Archaeologist: the Forgotten Story of Hormuzd Rassam

Hormuzd Rassam is not a name which will be familiar to most Oxford residents and …

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Black and white photograph showing a large crowd in front of an official building

An Eighty-Year Wait to Graduate: Women at Cambridge

Historically, women have only had a formal presence in the university setting for the last …

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Statue of a man with the arm raised in a green space.

Cecil Rhodes and the Religion of Race

It is hard to deny that the achievements of Cecil John Rhodes were remarkable. He …

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Humanoid face carving in stone

Afterlives of the Town: Politics of Burial and Personhood in Oxford

Oxford, Not University During our Uncomfortable Oxford tours, we focus a fair bit on the …

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Picture of glass panels around a waiting room, with the drawing of the portrait of a woman and some text added to the panels.

Thora Silverthorne: Fighter, Healer, Leader (Part II)

In the first part of our short series on the life of Thora Silverthorne, we …

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Three pictures collated showing a portrait of a woman (centre) and the same woman in a nurse uniform at work (left and right).

Thora Silverthorne: Fighter, Healer, Leader (Part I)

Of all the local heroes who have passed through the city of Oxford, few saved …

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ashmolean-mantle-image-2

Bones of Contention: The Ethics of Displaying Human Remains in Museums

In the previous article of our Personhood and Personal Objects series, we explored the idea …

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Drawing of a man's face encased in a diamond shape

Cecil Rhodes: Where we’re going, we don’t need Rhodes.

Thousands of protesters stood, knelt, and sat in solidarity at the Rhodes Must Fall protest …

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Photograph showing a mantle made of leather or skin and decorated with embroidered shells in a glass case.

Inheriting the Mantle: Dedications and Dilemmas in the Ashmolean

The Ashmolean Museum is the University of Oxford’s museum for art and archaeology. It describes …

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Empty aircraft silo

Mushroom Clouds over the Dreaming Spires

Until recently, when contemplating a future of climate chaos, unaffordable housing, dystopian tech, xenophobic nationalism, …

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Illustration of a woman on a ducking stool by a river.

Scolds, Witches, and Mouldy Jades: Women’s Words on Trial

In 1579, the civic leaders of early modern Oxford, the city corporation, decided to purchase …

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