TORCH Goes Digital! Humanities and Science

25 May 2020

Good morning, and welcome to the tenth week of #TORCHGoesDigital! This week, we will be focusing on the theme of “Humanities and Science”. We will explore how new answers can be found – and new research questions can be set – by bringing the disciplines together.

How can musicians use concepts about randomness and order developed by physicists and mathematicians to enrich their compositions? How far is the image showing a patient’s brain scan an aesthetic choice made by the clinician? How can humanities scholars and policy makers help engineers to explore the potential social and cultural impact of their innovations? Is mathematical proof a form of narrative? What can mental health practitioners learn from the arts?

Humanities and Science Poster, blue background, close up photo of microscope

We would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincerest gratitude to everyone who tuned in to watch our seventh Big Tent, Live Events! discussion with multi-award winning artist, Jamelia, Dr Yvonne Liao (Music Faculty, University of Oxford), and Dr Priya Atwal (Kings College London). #TORCHGoesDigital! and our Big Tent, Live Events! would not be the successes they are without your interest, appreciation and interaction.

Working with the great wealth of material created by the incredible researchers at the University of Oxford and beyond, the TORCH Team has curated a brilliant programme of blog posts, podcasts, news articles, poems, performances and more for you to enjoy. 

This week, we will be considering questions such as:

  • What were some of the strangest and most revolting medical remedies from the Middle Ages?

  • Who was Ada Lovelace? 

  • What can we learn about the life and legacy of the dodo?

  • What is personalised medicine?

This Thursday 28th May 2020, from 5.00pm-6.00pm​, we have our next Big Tent, Live Events! live-streamed discussion - Living with Pandemics: Finding New Narratives. Join Dr Erica Charters and Robin Gorna as they examine how societies have responded to pandemics, throughout the world, and throughout time.

Remember, we are happy to feature content submissions related to this theme, be it a poem, artwork, blog post, or book review!

Unleash your creativity, and send your suggestions and content to torch@humanities.ox.ac.uk.