English Faculty, University of Oxford

16/10/2026

Join us for our next Shakespeare webinar on 2 November at 6pm. This time we’ll be exploring PERICLES!

In this webinar series, Shakespeare expert Professor Emma Smith will be discussing a different Oxford World’s Classics Shakespeare title each month. Emma will be in conversation with the writers of the new introductions specially commissioned for this series, discussing the play and how we might approach it differently in the twenty-first century.

This month, Emma will be discussing Pericles with guest Edel Semple, Senior Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies, University College Cork.

ALL WELCOME! Register via Eventbrite and you will be sent a link to the Zoom webinar.

https://shakespeare-webinar-pericles.eventbrite.co.uk

14/10/2026

Ælfric (c. 955–1010) is the first major English prose stylist and one of the most important figures in early medieval literary history. Though better known today as Ælfric of Eynsham, he composed most of his major prose works at the monastery of Cerne Abbas in Dorset.

As part of Prof. Francis Leneghan’s AHRC project on Old English prose, we are pleased to announce the release of a series of short films of readings of works by Ælfric, read in the original Old English with subtitles and filmed on location in Cerne. Bruc ealles wel (Make good use of it!)

We’ll be releasing a film once a week over the course of this term, so keep an eye on our YouTube channel to stay up to date. Our first recording is The Lord’s Prayer in Old English, read by Emma Nihill Alcorta. You can also find an introduction on Ælfric of Cerne by Dr Niamh Kehoe (St Hilda’s College).

Find out more:

25/09/2026

21/09/2026

Join us for our next English Faculty / Oxford World’s Classics Shakespeare webinar with Prof Emma Smith. This month we’ll be exploring RICHARD III with guest Susan L. Anderson (Mary Baldwin University), who wrote the introduction for the New Oxford Shakespeare edition of the play.

5 October
6-7.15pm (British Summer Time)
Online via Zoom

In the introduction, Susan L. Anderson details how Shakespeare’s telling of the final chapter in the Wars of the Roses has irrevocably shaped both the reputation of the historical figure of Richard III and the way disability is represented on stage and in fiction.

This is a free public event and everyone is welcome! Register via Eventbrite and you will be sent a link to the Zoom webinar: https://shakespeare-webinar-richard-iii.eventbrite.co.uk

The event is run by Oxford University’s English Faculty in collaboration with Oxford University Press, the publishers of the Oxford World’s Classics series. Oxford World’s Classics are proud to be publishing new editions of the works of Shakespeare. Learn more: https://pages.oup.com/trade/collection/86933dcpp/owc-shakespeare

17/09/2026

We look forward to welcoming everyone to the Oxford University Open Day tomorrow (18 Sept)! Come and visit the English Faculty in the Schwarzman Centre for taster lectures, info talks, and Q&As with current students!

No booking required: https://english.web.ox.ac.uk/event/open-day-for-prospective-students-18-september-2026

16/09/2026

Calling all English & Drama teachers!

We're delighted to invite English and Drama teachers from state schools to: 'Reimagining Ibsen's A Doll’s House: an event for English and Drama Teachers'

Join us for a performance of Burning Down the House, inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s 'A Doll’s House', with a pre-show discussion on how performance and adaptation can offer fresh perspectives on teaching the play.

30 September 2026
Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities

6.30pm: Preshow discussion with Professor Kirsten Shepherd, exploring the research and creative processes behind the show, and how performance and adaptation can offer fresh perspectives on teaching A Doll’s House.

7.30pm: Performance of Burning Down the House, with tickets free-of-charge for confirmed attendees.

Places are limited and this opportunity is for teachers currently working at UK state-funded schools and colleges. Please note that, while attendance and the performance ticket are free, we are unfortunately unable to cover travel or other expenses associated with attending the event.

Register for your place on Eventbrite:

We are delighted to invite English and Drama teachers from state schools to a special event at the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities at 6.30pm on 30 September, exploring Burning Down the House, a new theatre production by Breach Theatre inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.

03/09/2026

We’re excited about our next English Faculty Open Day for prospective students! If you’re interested in finding out more about studying English at Oxford, you will not want to miss this one!

In the morning, we have taster lectures from Prof Marion Turner on ‘Chaucer, T.S. Eliot, and Zadie Smith: Influence, Adaptation, and Medieval Modernity’ and Prof Devyani Sharma on ‘From mead-hall to Southall: Cycles of social change in English speech’.

We will then move into the impressive Sohmen Concert Hall for our Information Talk by Prof Sos Eltis, where you can learn more about the English course at Oxford, how it’s taught, and how to apply. Followed by a session on Humanities Joint Schools.

Our student ambassadors will also have a stall in the atrium to answer any questions you have about the English course or life in Oxford.

No booking required; please just turn up!

See the full programme on the English Faculty website:
https://english.web.ox.ac.uk/event/open-day-for-prospective-students-18-september-2026

03/09/2026

Congratulations to Dr Stephen Turton who has been awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant for his project on James Murray and the Correspondence Networks of the Oxford English Dictionary, 1879–1915 (ENCOED).

ENCOED will create a digital edition of the letters of James A. H. Murray, the first chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1879 to 1915. Making the OED would not have been possible without the information Murray received about words, their meanings, and their origins from hundreds of scholars, authors, and volunteers writing to him from around the world. The largest collection of these letters—over 7,000—is held by the Bodleian Library. ENCOED will transcribe and publish the entire collection, using it to reconstruct and analyse Murray’s global web of correspondence through commentaries, maps, and network graphs.

The ERC’s Starting Grants aim to help researchers “develop ambitious ideas, build their own teams and establish their independence at a pivotal stage in their careers”. Dr Turton’s grant is one of 421 grants, worth a total of €705 million, awarded to early career researchers across Europe.

Dr Turton commented: “The OED remains a monumental work of human collaboration, and Murray’s letters reveal the passion, tenacity, and comradeship that first brought the dictionary into being. Getting to share the letters with the world through the Starting Grant is an immense privilege”.