Humanities Stream

Friday 21 March (2:00 pm to 9:00 pm) and Sat 22 March (9:00 am to 2:00 pm) 2025

Magdalen College, Oxford

What does it mean to be a follower of Christ in the world of academia and within the humanities in particular? How is our scholarship and creativity inspired by our faith in the Creator God? What are the implications of faith in Christ for assurance in our identity, motivation in our studies, and freedom as a scholar? How can we respond with intellectual humility to the challenges of academic life? Join us as we grapple with these questions, encourage one another in prayer, and share experiences of how our faith impacts our academic life as researchers, lecturers, colleagues, and writers.

**Please note our eligibility criteria: This event is for University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes postgraduates, postdocs, academic staff. If you do not fit this criteria, are DCM Alumni, or in a continuing education program, please complete this form and we will review your request **

Friday 21st March

Please note that the programme is provisional at this stage

1:00 pm Registration in Magdalen College’s Old Kitchen Bar with coffee & tea

2:00 pm Christianity and the Humanities - Anna Nickerson, Associate Professor and Tutor in Poetry

What is an articulation of one’s Christian theology of one’s  discipline when working in the humanities?

3:30 pm Coffee & tea in the Old Kitchen Bar

4:00 pm Research Talk - Laura Higgins, Senior Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Drama

How do Christian academics in the humanities engage with objects and performance?

The following events are held jointly with all streams at New College.

6:00 pm Prayer in New College Chapel

6:40 pm Drinks at the New College Bar

7:30 pm Dinner in the New College Dining Hall

Saturday 22nd March

9:00 am Registration in Magdalen College’s Old Kitchen Bar with coffee & tea

9:05 am Prayer in Magdalen College Chapel

9:30 am Participatory Workshop

Participants share a text (prose or poem) to embody a Christian hermeneutic of reading, exploring “prayer, contemplation and scholarly practice”.

11:00 am Coffee & tea in the Old Kitchen Bar

11:30 am Methods Talk - Sarah C. Williams, Research Professor, History of Christianity

How do our methods reflect an ethic of Christian love? What does it mean to engage with culture, history, literature in a way that mirrors or reflects the love of Christ?

12:30 pm Panel

How do Christian academics resist the cynicism of dominant cultural forces in the humanities? How do we put all of this into practice?

1:00 pm Lunch in the Old Kitchen Bar

2:00 pm  Closing