What does medical progress really mean?
Who gets to benefit from it — and who gets left behind?
And what happens when saving lives comes at an ethical cost?

Donate to join this Wonder Wander 2026 fundraising tour in support of Thoughtful, UK’s longest-running charity dedicated to philosophy for children and communities. This tour on the history of medicine in Oxford will be accompanied by a philosopher from the Uehiro Oxford Institute, Dr Jonathan Pugh, who will be raising additional questions pertaining to research ethics, public health ethics and open the tour to wider conversations about practical ethics.

Date & Details

⚠️ Booking Essential: Advance booking is required, each ticket helps fund the activities of Thoughtful.

Donate to Join

About Thoughtful

Since 1992, Thoughtful (formerly SAPERE) has trained teachers and worked directly with young people to build the confidence to think for themselves, and with others. They focus resources where they’re needed most, working with socio-economically and educationally disadvantaged learners to make philosophical enquiry more equitable. From classrooms to communities, they help people think deeply, communicate clearly and treat one another with care.

Wonder Wander is Thoughtful’s annual walking-and-talking fundraiser. Each year they take philosophical enquiry into new communities and raise money to fund the classes, teacher training and resources that keep P4C growing across the UK. Past Wonder Wanders have funded after-school philosophy clubs and sessions for care-experienced young people.

Donations ensure that Thoughtful can keep reaching new schools, developing new opportunities and sharing what happens when people are given the space to think together. Every gift helps make philosophical enquiry possible.

The price of your ticket is a donation to Thoughtful, funding core work to bring philosophical enquiry to more people and places.

Donations start at £10 per ticket.

Donate to Join

About the Tour:

Dissect the long history of medical research and practice in Oxford. The history of medicine is always a bit uncomfortable. This tour walks you through medical history in the city from medieval plagues and the founding of the medical school, to the first trials of penicillin. Far from a straightforward linear progression, Oxford’s medical history is a complicated conversation about health equity, medical ethics, and continued clashes over the control of the body. Using the built environment, we examine health geographies, resistance to public health policies, and the tensions inherent in medical progress.

Tour recommended for ages 12 and older.

ACCESSIBLITY:

• All tours are wheelchair accessible, but please note some mildly uneven pavement and crowding in the city centre, especially on weekends.
• Service animals are welcome on all tours.
• Carers and accessibility aids are welcome to attend free of charge and do not need to register.
• The total distance walked during each tour is less than one mile. Each tour includes moments for sitting/leaning against walls, and toilets are available at certain points along the routes.

We do not usually use amplifying audio equipment but can arrange to do this upon request and with advance notice. Please inform your guide if any visual or hearing accommodations required, and they will keep this in mind throughout the tour. All our guides receive accessibility training and are prepared to make accommodations as needed.

Back to all Uncomfortable Oxford tours
Back to Uncomfortable Oxford homepage