Highlights 2015



Highlights of our news and research from 2015 are shown in this short animated film (3 minutes) which was made by staff of the Department.

Learn more about the news and research seen in the film

First step toward scholarly edition of Wilberforce diaries
Dr Mark Smith, Director of Studies in Local History has been awarded a John Fell Fund grant to produce a transcription of the diaries and journals of William Wilberforce.

New research on war-era women weavers
Amidst the troubled years before and during the Second World War, French women designers and entrepreneurs turned to tapestry to express hopes for better days.

African Dreams: Imaginations of Urban Life and Infrastructures in the African Metropolis
Idalina Baptista, OUDCE's University Lecturer in Urban Anthropology, has been awarded over £7000 by the John Fell Fund to lead an international workshop addressing Africa's urbanisation.

Settling the score for the visually impaired
For the past two years Jonathan Darnborough, our Director of Studies in Music, has taken part in an EU-funded international project called 'Music for Visually Impaired People' - or Music4VIP.

New book celebrates Sir George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott was the leading figure of the Gothic Revival in England, with a prodigious output which changed the architectural face of England, and with an influence felt throughout the British Empire. The volume provides a timely appreciation of Scott's work, with essays covering his state and secular buildings as well as his celebrated work on cathedrals and churches.

New Book: Victorian Political Culture
Victorian Britain is often described as an age of dawning democracy and as an exemplar of the modern Liberal state; yet a hereditary monarchy, a hereditary House of Lords, and an established Anglican Church survived as influential aspects of national public life with traditional elites assuming redefined roles.

Professor Tom Buchanan celebrates 25 years
Professor Tom Buchanan reached a milestone on 1 October 2015 - the completion of his twenty-fifth year with the Department for Continuing Education.

Nine new online courses were created in 2015; they join our collection of over 90 online short courses.

A thank you to donors, both those listed below and anonymous

  • The Sheehan Scholarship in Sustainable Urban Development
    A new scholarship benefitting students on our Master's in Sustainable Urban Development will provide a fully funded place on the course for a student with an interest in undertaking research in the area of recycled aggregates. The Sheehan Scholarship is sponsored by the Sheehan Group, an Oxford based haulage and plant hire company.
  • Support from the Brunsfield Foundation secures scholarships in International Human Rights Law
  • Ongoing support from the Friends of Lifelong Learning has enabled us to continue the Sunday opening of the library and contributed to the Department’s bursary fund
  • Two staff bake sales and our Christmas card fund raised over £1200 for our Student Hardship Fund in 2015

Open Day 2015: The Department's fourth annual Open Day event took place on Friday and Saturday. 25-6 September. We welcomed approximately 500 people to Rewley House to enjoy walking tours, short lectures, creative writing workshops and more, and were joined online by viewers from the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Japan, Greece and elsewhere. Watch a selection of the 2015 open day lectures on our YouTube channel.

Sheldonian Theatre Award Ceremony 2015
View a selection of photos from this year's event. Nearly 200 students travelled to Oxford to attend the Department's award ceremony on 31 March.

Published 18 December 2015