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
Plays for Today?	Closing symposium in which critic Michael Billington, playwright Rachel De-lahay, theatremaker Chris Goode academic and Dr Liz Tomlin discuss with David Edgar the place of the playwright in contemporary theatre. This event was filmed on 7th February 2015.	David Edgar, Michael Billington, Rachel De-lahay, Liz Tomlin, Chris Goode	5 February, 2015
How Playwrights Collaborate	A conversation with playwrights David Edgar, Howard Brenton and Bryony Lavery about how playwrights collaborate with directors, performers and each other. This conversation was filmed on 6th February 2015.	David Edgar, Howard Brenton, Bryony Lavery	5 February, 2015
How Playwrights Work	A conversation with playwrights David Edgar, April de Angelis and David Greig discussing their working methods and what is (or isn’t) unique about their work. This conversation was filmed on 4th February 2015.	April de Angelis, David Edgar, David Greig	5 February, 2015
State of Play	First lecture in which Playwright David Edgar outlines the story of new writing in postwar British theatre and the growth of the anti-writer trend since the 1990s. This lecture was filmed in Oxford on 2nd February 2015.	David Edgar	5 February, 2015
Unconscious Memory and Mental Space	Professor Michael Burke and Dr Sebastian Groes	Michael Burke, Sebastian Groes, Ben Morgan	26 January, 2015
Exploring the Two Cultures	Professor Larry Squire and Dr Simon Kemp	Larry Squire, Simon Kemp	26 January, 2015
Narrative and Proof: Two Sides of the Same Equation	One of the UK's leading scientists, Marcus du Sautoy, argues that mathematical proofs are not just number-based, but also a form of narrative.	Marcus du Sautoy, Roger Penrose, Laura Marcus, Ben Okri, Elleke Boehmer	22 January, 2015
Common People: The History of an English Family	An interdisciplinary panel of scholars discuss Alison Light's book	Alison Light, Lyndal Roper, Laura Marcus, Selina Todd	11 December, 2014
Alison Light on 'Common People'	The author discusses her new book, exploring the interplay between fiction and history, the redefinition of the common, and family history	Alison Light	8 December, 2014
Irish Nationalist Women, 1900-1918	An interdisciplinary panel of scholars discuss Dr Senia Paseta's book	Senia Paseta, Tara Stubbs, Desmond King, Roy Foster	3 December, 2014
Senia Paseta on Irish Nationalist Women	Dr Paseta explores women's history and the nationalist narrative in Ireland.	Senia Paseta	1 December, 2014
The Cult of Saints	Dr Bryan Ward-Perkins introduces a new research project which examines the origins and development of the cult of Christian saints.	Bryan Ward-Perkins	12 September, 2014
The Jagiellonians	Dr Natalia Nowakowska introduces a new research project which examines the Renaissance Europe Jagiellonian dynasty as an international political phenomenon.	Natalia Nowakowska	12 September, 2014
Museums in the digital age: development or conflict?	Interview with Martin Roth – Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum.	Martin Roth	30 July, 2014
Love and Math	A public lecture given by Edward Frenkel, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, talking around his best-selling book "Love and Math" followed by a conversation with Marcus du Sautoy and Q&A.	Edward Frenkel, Marcus du Sautoy	12 July, 2014
Medieval Storytelling	An AHRC funded workshop for Early Career researchers	Hannah Ryley, Gareth Evans, Jenny Moon, Daniel Morden	17 April, 2014
Dance Circles	An interdisciplinary discussion of Dr Hélène Neveu Kringelbach's book.	Helene Neveu Kringlebach	9 April, 2014
Interview with Hélène Neveu Kringelbach	The author discusses her recent book on dance in urban Senegal.	Helene Neveu Kringlebach	9 April, 2014
Interview with Emily Troscianko	Discussion of Kafka's Cognitive Realism	Emily Troscianko	26 March, 2014
Kafka's Cognitive Realism	An interdisciplinary discussion of Dr Emily Troscianko's book	Emily Troscianko, Sue Blackmore, Ritchie Robertson, James Carney	26 March, 2014
Activist Humanities in a Global Context	Ahadf Soueif, Paul Smith and Robin Kelley discuss how the humanities can solve global challenges	Ahdaf Soueif, Paul Smith, Robin Kelley	19 March, 2014
What Have the Humanities to Teach the Modern University?	Part of the Humanities and the Public Good series	Teresa Morgan, Stephen Whitefield, David Ford, Jonathan Phillips	19 March, 2014
Science and the Humanities	Are the Humanities and the Sciences fundamentally different? Or do they share roots, values, aspirations and a common, contemporary predicament?	Howard Hotson, Ian Walmsley, Mark Pagel, Sally Shuttleworth	4 March, 2014
Where's the Virtue in the Humanities?	How can the Liberal Humanities own up to – and promote – its public service as a matrix of civic virtue?	Nigel Biggar, Donald Drakeman, Steven Biel, Jonathan Bate	4 March, 2014
African Knowledge and Livestock Health	Book at Lunchtime interview with Karen Brown and William Beinart about their book “African Knowledge and Livestock Health”	Karen Brown, William Beinart	13 February, 2014
In Everyone's Interests - the highlights	Panel discussion on what it means to invest in the humanities	Andrew Hamilton, Earl Lewis, Hermione Lee, Charlotte Higgins, Marcus du Sautoy, Nick Hillman, Shearer West	4 February, 2014
In Everyone's Interests	Panel discussion on what it means to invest in the humanities	Andrew Hamilton, Earl Lewis, Hermione Lee, Charlotte Higgins, Marcus du Sautoy, Nick Hillman, Shearer West	4 February, 2014
Are the humanities worth investing in?	Knowledge Exchange Fellow Oliver Cox (@OliverJWCox) from The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH) asked members of the public, students and academics in Oxford whether humanities subjects are worth investing in.	Oliver Cox	16 January, 2014
TORCH Book Series: ‘Thomas Wyatt - The Heart’s Forest’ by Susan Brigden	David Starkey, Chris Stamatakis and Diarmaid MacCulloch discuss ‘Thomas Wyatt - The Heart’s Forest’ by Susan Brigden as part of the TORCH Book Series	David Starkey, Chris Stamatakis, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Susan Brigden	12 December, 2013
The Trans-Atlantic, the Diaspora, and Africa	Ngugi wa Thiong’o delivers the opening keynote lecture of the Calloloo conference	Ngugi wa Thiong’o	5 December, 2013
Love and Sex in Victorian Fiction	Victorian fiction is commonly thought of as treating love sentimentally and lacking all reference to sex. In this talk drawing on material from a book he is writing, Dr David Grylls, Fellow of Kellogg College, will contest such a view.	David Grylls	4 October, 2013
Humanities Graduates and the British Economy	Humanities Graduates and the British Economy.	Shearer West, Sir Adam Roberts, Philip Kreager, Stephen Tuck, Andrew Hamilton	1 August, 2013
TORCH Launch	The highlights of the launch event for The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH).	Jonathan Bate, Clare Copeland, Andrew Hamilton, Marcus du Sautoy, Imaobong Umoren, Shearer West, Abigail Williams	29 May, 2013
Early Modern Catholicism Network	Clare Copeland and Jan Machielsen talk about a new hub to encourage, enhance, and promote research touching on all aspects of early modern Catholicism from across the academic disciplines.	Jan Machielsen, Clare Copeland	24 May, 2013
HiCor: a Cross-Disciplinary Network for History and Corpus Linguistics	Gabor Mihaly Toth talks about a network of corpus linguists, computational linguists, and historians who are aiming to study how the resources, tools and methods of corpus linguistics can be used to address important historical research questions.	Gabor Mihaly Toth	24 May, 2013
Race and Resistance Across Borders in the Long Twentieth Century	Elleke Boehmer and Imaobong Umoren talk about their research network which is investigating how twentieth-century activists, artists and intellectuals challenged racially oppressive hierarchies and sought to achieve equality.	Elleke Boehmer, Imaobong Umoren	24 May, 2013
Ancient Dance in Modern Dancers	Sophie Bocksberger, Berrow Scholar, Classics, talks about collaborative workshops involving classical historians, professionally-trained dancers, and anthropologists to create "reconstructive" performances of the Roman dance form tragoedia saltata.	Sophie Bocksberger	24 May, 2013
The Romance of the Middle Ages	Dr Nicholas Perkins talks about how romance functions as a genre in the middle ages, especially about how gifts and tokens were exchanged as signs of fidelity, specifically in Sir Orfeo, Sir Gawain, and King Horn.	Nicholas Perkins	21 June, 2012

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