Every term TORCH has the privilege of welcoming micro-interns to the team for a week. Their enthusiasm, expertise and help is invaluable as they work on a range of different areas across our portfolio of projects.
In Trinity term we welcomed three micro-interns to the team. This blog post was written by one of them.
What is TORCH?
A week ago, I wouldn’t have been able to answer this question. Part of my motivation for applying for this micro-internship position was that I wanted to find out more about what exactly TORCH does. I had vague memories of seeing the logo in email banners or on conference posters, but the combination of the Oxford workload and feeling daunted by the idea of approaching actual academic research meant that I’d never explored further.
The TORCH website states that they are “a hub for multi-disciplinary research projects and research engagement”. I think this can be summed up in one word: connection. They bring people together – regardless of their area of expertise, their level of experience, or their location – to share ideas and make exciting things happen. And their work isn’t limited to supporting researchers. TORCH also aims to increase the impact of humanities research through collaborations with local, national, and international organisations, including the Oxford Community Action and the BFI. This aspect of their work helps to bridge the gap between town and gown by making academia more approachable for the general public.
Words are all well and good, but I think that it’s only through getting directly involved with TORCH that I’ve really come to understand its purpose. Each day of the micro-internship has brought different tasks, many of which involved making the website more accessible. This ranged from solving problems which affect all users, such as broken links or spelling errors, to making adjustments such as clarifying the function of links or adding alt-text to images (both of which help people who use a screen reader), and transcribing videos to improve auto-generated captions. Even these routine duties have given me a sense of helping to share knowledge with a wider audience. And as well as updating the website, I’ve had the opportunity to engage in more creative endeavours like designing a new front page – or indeed, writing this blog post.
Equally, meeting people within TORCH has given me an insight into the intricacies involved in organising even small events. Navigating the Byzantine university funding systems or attempting to get hold of academics is all in a day’s work for the TORCH team. A conference or panel discussion or performance is the result of many hours of planning and organisation behind the scenes, which makes it all the more remarkable just how many of these events take place each term.
If this has piqued your interest, I’d recommend having a look at the wealth of content on TORCH’s website and social media – the ‘Book at Lunchtime’ recordings on YouTube are a particular highlight – as well as keeping an eye out for future events. Or if you’re a humanities student who wants to find out more about academic life beyond tutorial essays, consider applying for the micro-internship placement!
