Museum of Natural History
Relevant Links
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH) houses the University's scientific collections of zoological, entomological and geological specimens. The Museum itself is a Grade 1 listed building, renowned for its spectacular neo-Gothic architecture. Among its most famous features are the Oxfordshire dinosaurs, the dodo, and the swifts in the tower.
Series associated with Museum of Natural History
Behind the Scenes at the Oxford University Museums
Biodiverse Objects
Illuminating the Museums conference 2014
Museum of Natural History Public Talks
Oxford Kafka24
Temple of Science
| # | Episode Title | Description | People | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | Monstrosities and Metamorphosis in More-Than-Human Worlds | Metamorphosis is constantly taking place in the worlds of people and other animals. A freewheeling discussion featuring shape-shifting leopard men in Nigeria, gut microbes that shape the human condition, and circus freakshows. | David Pratten, Jamie Lorimer, Beth Greenhough, Eva Bredler | 20 Aug 2024 | |
| 50 | Extraordinary Bodies, Disability Justice, and Metamorphosis | All of our bodies are gradually undergoing metamorphosis. Yet, many people with extraordinary bodies and minds experience discrimination in everyday life. Our speakers imagine metamorphosis and transformations on a grand societal scale. | Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Anna Landre, Benedict Ipgrave, Stuart Murray | 12 Aug 2024 | |
| 49 | Keynote: Time traveling with Gregor Samsa, or what you can do with six legs | Professors Rosemarie Garland-Thomson and Eben Kirksey use Gregor's transformation in 'Metamorphosis' to muse on the everyday changes we all experience and their relations to disability, design justice and ableism. | Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Eben Kirksey | 07 Aug 2024 | |
| 48 | CRISPR, Gene Editing, and Metamorphosis | Biotechnology is transforming the human condition. A molecular tool called CRISPR-Cas9 is being used to edit human DNA. Scientists will join influential disabled thinkers to discuss ethical issues hovering around gene editing. | Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Nada Kubikova, Dagan Wells, Julia-Sophia Bellingrath | 26 Jul 2024 | |
| 47 | Hunger Artistry: Kafka and the Art of Starvation | Kafka’s provocative story “The Hunger Artist” explores starvation, art, and the nature of human existence. Experts discuss the story and its reception. | Peter Boxall, Ankhi Mukherjee, Meindert Peters, Karen Leeder | 10 Jul 2024 | |
| 46 | ‘Franz Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’: Insects and Disgust and Repulsion’ | Franz Kafka exploited people’s disgust at insects as his protagonist, Greger Samsa, was transformed into a giant insect. Is this disgust innate, widely shared or justified and what are the consequences for our treatment of insects? | Liam Crowley, Rosemary Gillespie, Clair Linzey, Geraldine Wright | 12 Jun 2024 | |
| 45 | Tuberculosis: vaccines, diagnostics and experience | Kafka died in 1924 of tuberculosis, which remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases. This talk looks at the various aspects of tuberculosis from candidate vaccines, the role of genetics in TB treatments and the perspective of a patient. | Helen McShane, Philip Fowler | 12 Jun 2024 | |
| 44 | Oxford Reads Kafka | A collective public reading of 'Metamorphosis' to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death. Bringing together literary figures, civic leaders and University academics and students, this event celebrates the power of Kafka’s voice today. | Lemn Sissay, Ben Okri, Lisa Appignanesi, Helen McShane | 12 Jun 2024 | |
| 43 | 'Kafka's Ape' and 'Words and Music' | Interview with the creatives behind two shows inspired by Kafka's story 'A Report for an Academy' which explore race, migration, ageing and "humanimal" agency. | Ed Gaughan, Karen Leeder, Tony Miyambo, Wes Williams | 07 Jun 2024 | |
| 42 | Biodiversity on the rocks: joining the dots between animate and inanimate | This podcast explores some of the countless relationships between biology, biodiversity, and geology, past and present. | Elaine Charwat, Esteban Acevedo Trejos, Mark Carnall, Lita Manners | 31 Aug 2022 | |
| 41 | Extinction and the Museum: skeletons and other remains in our cupboards | In this podcast, we look at extinction and the role of collections and museums. | Elaine Charwat, Mark Carnall, Jackie Chapman-Gray, Robert Douglas | 31 Aug 2022 | |
| 40 | On display: nature’s dramas, nature’s dioramas | A journey from 3D dioramas from the 19th century that contain taxidermy animals to today’s virtual reality reconstructions of ancient or hidden worlds. | Elaine Charwat, Ricardo Perez-De-La Fuente, Katrin Böhme | 26 Aug 2022 | |
| 39 | Of parasites, dinosaurs, and other model animals | Elaine Charwat has been on a journey into the attic storerooms behind the scenes of the Museum to discover 19th-century wax models of parasites. | Elaine Charwat, Mark Carnall, Péter Molnár | 11 Nov 2020 | |
| 38 | Episode 5 – Babylon: Natural Theology versus Scientific Naturalism | When Museum opened in 1860, a new secular approach to science was on the rise. In the final episode of Temple of Science we see how ‘natural theology’ responded to the challenges of Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution and natural selection. | John Holmes | 01 Oct 2020 | |
| 37 | Episode 4 – Chambers of the Ministering Priests: Building Scientific Disciplines | The Museum was founded on the principle that art should be used to teach science and to inspire generations of scientists. In episode 4 of Temple of Science we see how this was put into practice in some of the building’s less familiar spaces. | John Holmes | 01 Oct 2020 | |
| 36 | Episode 3 – The Sanctuary of the Temple of Science: The Central Court | The central court of the Museum was described by one founder as ‘the sanctuary of the Temple of Science’. In this episode we see how every detail of this unique space was carefully planned and crafted to form a comprehensive model of natural science. | John Holmes | 01 Oct 2020 | |
| 35 | Episode 2 – 'God’s Own Museum': The Façade | In episode 2 of Temple of Science, we take a closer look at the decoration on the outside of the Museum building, which captures the vitality of nature, presented in Victorian Oxford as the study of God’s creation. | John Holmes | 01 Oct 2020 | |
| 34 | Episode 1 – Oxford's Pre-Raphaelite Natural History Museum | In the first episode of Temple of Science we find out how the Museum came to be, involving not only scientists but artists, architects and designers in one of the most original creative collaborations of the Victorian age. | John Holmes | 29 Sep 2020 | |
| 33 | Creative Commons | When Life Got Hard | In this podcast episode Museum research fellow Dr Duncan Murdock talks about the first animals to build skeletons, and what they did with them. | Duncan Murdock | 13 Sep 2019 |
| 32 | The Great Debate; Should We Engineer Our Way Out of Climate Change? | We must reduce emissions of carbon dioxide to avoid dangerous climate change, right? But can we? Is it too late? Should we focus our efforts on adapting to the coming change instead? Or should we engineer the earth system to avoid climate change? | Gideon Henderson, Nick Eyre, Felix Heilmann, Friederike Otto | 04 Jul 2019 | |
| 31 | Creative Commons | The Gut-Brain Axis and How What We Eat Affects How We Feel | For Brain Awareness Week, Dr Phil Burnet (Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford) speaks about how the gut microbiome can affect mood and mental health. | Phil Burnet | 19 Mar 2019 |
| 30 | Mobile in Museums | Theodore Koterwas, Mobile Development Team Lead, IT Services, gives a short talk for Oxford University Museums Staff Conference | Theodore Koterwas | 31 Oct 2016 | |
| 29 | Celebrating Diversity: An LGBTQ+ Tour of Oxford University’s Museums and Collections | Beth Asbury, Assistant to the Director and Administration Team, Pitt Rivers Museum, gives a short talk for Oxford University Museums Staff Conference. | Beth Asbury | 31 Oct 2016 | |
| 28 | Quantifying and Mitigating Human Generated Vibration in Museum Exhibits | Daniel Bone, Deputy Head of Conservation, Ashmolean Museum, gives a short talk for Oxford University Museums Staff Conference. | Daniel Bone | 31 Oct 2016 | |
| 27 | Interacting with Artefacts, Oxfordshire Collections Project | Stephen Barker, Oxfordshire County Council Museums Service, gives a short talk for Oxford University Museums Staff Conference. | Stephen Barker | 31 Oct 2016 | |
| 26 | A year in the Zoology Collection | Mark Carnall, Collections Manager (Life Collections), Museum of Natural History gives a short talk for the Oxford University Museums Staff Conference. | Mark Carnall | 21 Oct 2016 | |
| 25 | Memories under the microscope: collaborations between Oxford University Partnership Museums and University of Oxford research departments | Helen Fountain, Reminiscence Officer, Oxford University Museums and Kate Hamblin, Senior Research Fellow, University of Oxford Institute for Population Ageing give a short talk for the Oxford University Museums Staff Conference. | Kate Hamblin, Helen Fountain | 21 Oct 2016 | |
| 24 | VERVE: Connecting the public with displays at the Pitt Rivers Museum | Beth McDougall and Madeleine Ding, VERVE Team, Pitt Rivers Museum give a short talk for the Oxford University Museums Staff Conference. | Beth McDougall, Madeleine Ding | 21 Oct 2016 | |
| 23 | Joint Museums Youth Forum Project | Sarah Lloyd and Carly Smith-Huggins, Education Officers, Museum of Natural History give a short talk for the Oxford University Museums Staff Conference. | Sarah Lloyd, Carly Smith-Huggins | 21 Oct 2016 | |
| 22 | Cabinet: Integrating Text and Object in Oxford Teaching | Giovanna Vitelli, Director, University Engagement Programme, Ashmolean Museum gives a short talk for Oxford University Museums Staff Conference. | Giovanna Vitelli | 21 Oct 2016 | |
| 21 | Why community groups work with museums | Nicola Bird, Community Engagement Officer, Oxford University Museums gives a short talk for the Oxford University Museums Staff Conference. | Nicola Bird | 21 Oct 2016 | |
| 20 | Discussing Penicillin | Marie-Louise Kerr, Penicillin Exhibition Curator, Museum of the History of Science gives a short talk for the Oxford University Museums Staff Conference. | Marie-Louise Kerr | 21 Oct 2016 | |
| 19 | Transportation Transformation | Andrew Hughes, Move Project Team Leader, Pitt Rivers Museum, gives a short talk for the Oxford University Museums Staff Conference. | Andrew Hughes | 21 Oct 2016 | |
| 18 | Dodo Roadshow | Scott Billings, Digital Engagement Officer, Museum of Natural History gives a short talk for Oxford University Museums Staff Conference. | Scott Billings | 21 Oct 2016 | |
| 17 | Oxford Cultural Leaders | Lucy Shaw, Oxford University Museum Partnership Manager, gives a talk on the Oxford Cultural Leaders Programme | Lucy Shaw | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 16 | Count me in - volunteers in museums | Joy Todd, Oxford University Museums Outreach Manager, gives a talk on the successes of the Count me in project | Joy Todd | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 15 | Invisible Digital in Museums | Anjanesh Babu, Ashmolean museum, gives a talk on the different roles and uses IT has in museums | Anjanesh Babu | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 14 | Funding Museums | Heidi Kurtz and Hattie Warburton, Univesity of Oxford, give a talk on how Oxford museums get thier funding | Heidi Kurtz, Hattie Warburton | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 13 | Working in partnership, community engagement at the Museum of Oxford | Helen Fountain and Antonia Harland-Lang give a talk on the ways in which the Museum of Oxford reaches out to the local community | Helen Fountain, Antonia Harland-Lang | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 12 | Collections and commercial enterprise | Dec McCarthy, Ashmolean museum, gives a talk on the commercial aspects of the Ashmoelan Museum | Dec McCarthy | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 11 | Managing a playing collection | Andrew Lamb, Bate Collection of Musical Instruments, gives a talk on how to manage a collection of musical instruments which are fragile but need to be played to understand them. | Andrew Lamb | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 10 | Working with source communities | Chris Morton, Pitt Rivers Museum, gives a talk on working with first nations and source communities to enhance the museum's understanding of its collections | Chris Morton | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 9 | From Museums to the Historic Environment | Dan Hicks, Pitt Rivers Museum, gives a talk on object based research at the Pitt Rivers Museum | Dan Hicks | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 8 | Converting academic research into education activities | Andrew McLellan, Pitt Rivers Musuem, gives a talk on how the Pitt Rivers Museum has been using academic research to create new educational activities | Andrew McLellnan | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 7 | Digital Sketchbooks: using tablets to support a museum art trip | Adrian Brooks and Helen Ward, Ashmolean Museum, give a talk on how using iPads and tablet device in museums have helped improved student engagement during museum visits | Adrian Brooks, Helen Ward | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 6 | Museums and STEM Engagement: Objects of Invention | Chris Parkin, Museum of the History of Science, gives a talk on engagment events at the Museum of the History of Science | Chris Parkin | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 5 | Museums: a showcase for science | Sarah Lloyd, Botanic Gardens, gives a talk on how scientists can engage with the public about thier research through innovative events and learning experiences | Sarah Lloyd | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 4 | Once in a Whale | Bethany Palumbo, Museum of Natural History, gives a talk on her work to restore the museum's collection of whale skeletons | Bethany Palumbo | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 3 | Crowdsourcing and community groups | Alison Roberts, Ashmolean museum, gives a talk on how the museums are crowdsourcing ideas from community groups to improve collections and exhibitions | Alison Roberts | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 2 | Redeveloping the Ashmolean Greece Galleries | Susan Walker, Ashmolean Museum, gives a talk on how the Ashmolean museum is redevloping thier Ancient Greece exhibitions | Susan Walker | 21 Oct 2014 | |
| 1 | Geek is Good - planning an exhibition programme | Stephen Johnston, Museum of the History of Science, gives a short talk on the Geek is Good exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science | Stephen Johnston | 21 Oct 2014 |