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2. Kathryn Murphy: Paradises Lost and Regained

Series
On Paradise: Between Hope and Memory
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Professor Kathryn Murphy discusses 17th-century Christian thought concerning humanity’s expulsion from Paradise, nostalgia for a lost originary state, and possibilities for reinstantiating Paradise within.

Speaker: Kathryn Murphy, Associate Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford.

Lost edens, hoped for utopias. The idea that a better place exists haunts the human imagination.

Accompanying the ‘On Paradise’ exhibition at the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, this podcast series features members of the University of Oxford Humanities community discussing conceptualisations of paradise and utopia in different historical and cultural contexts. The exhibition, featuring the work of Oxford-based artist, Saad Qureshi, was curated by Paul Basu, Professor of Anthropology and Curator at the Pitt Rivers Museum, who also interviewed the podcast participants.

 

More in this series

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On Paradise series artwork
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1. Veronika Poier: Paradise Gardens and Divine Order

Dr Veronika Poier discusses the Persian origins of Paradise as an enclosed garden, expressive of divine order on Earth.
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On Paradise series artwork
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3. Wes Williams: Paradise and Utopia

Professor Wes Williams discusses Paradise as a fictional construct that can be imagined into being or made in the act of naming. He considers Thomas More’s Utopia as a moment in the longer history of Paradise.
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Episode Information

Series
On Paradise: Between Hope and Memory
People
Kathryn Murphy
Paul Basu
Keywords
paradise
eden
utopia
christianity
nostalgia
Department: Humanities Division
Date Added: 28/09/2026
Duration: 00:28:23

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