Heritage Pathway
Cast iron Lighthouse at Whiteford Point by S P L (CC BY-ND 2.0); Oxford University Museum of Natural History by Chris Chabot (CC BY-NC 2.0); Fragment of the Antikythera Mechanism by Andrew Barclay (CC BY-NC 2.0); Archaeologists at work at Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve by AlaskaNPS (CC BY 2.0); ‘Histories, Mysteries and Future of Oxford’s Broad Street Heads’ Project © Keiko Ikeuchi / History of Science Museum, University of Oxford; ‘Last Supper in Pompeii’ Exhibition © Emily Jarrett / Ashmolean
Heritage Pathway is a series of training and engagement activities which run termly. Since 2015, Heritage Pathway has provided undergraduate and postgraduate students, along with Early Career Researchers at the University of Oxford with the skills, knowledge and confidence to engage effectively with a wide range of partners in the heritage, museums and cultural sector.
Heritage Pathway is designed and delivered by Alice Purkiss and Dr Rachel Delman and organised through the Humanities Researcher Training and Development Programme.
Through a combination of lectures, workshops and site visits led by expert practitioners, participants understand their research in a wider context and gain experience in the heritage, museums and cultural sector. Heritage Pathway opens up new avenues for careers and collaborations, while reinforcing researchers’ ability to complete their research projects and academic tasks in a timely fashion.
Heritage Pathway enables participants to:
• Understand the opportunities and constraints within each sector of heritage.
• Understand the different language and vocabulary required to create successful collaborations.
• Explore how their research experience and expertise can contribute to organisations.
• Develop the skills and confidence to create collaborative research-led projects.
• Join a cohort of like-minded undergraduates, postgraduates and early career researchers.
• Develop and enhance networking abilities with internal and external colleagues.
Previous sessions have explored themes including:
• Heritage and its Audiences
• Case Studies in Collaboration: Digital Projects
• Researching, Curating and Interpreting Collections
• Careers in the Heritage and Museums Sectors
• CVs and Cover Letters for the Heritage Sector
• Commercial Heritage
• Cataloguing and Digital Projects
• Cataloguing and Spectrum Standards
• Interpretation
• Diversifying Heritage
• Communicating Heritage
• Working with Objects
• Heritage and Landscape
• Heritage and Authenticity
Site visits always include opportunities to meet with senior leaders and managers to discuss the ways in which research and the day-to-day and strategic concerns of sites and organisations intersect. Previous visits include: Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park, Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, Black Country Living Museum, and Charleston Farmhouse.
For further information please contact training@humanities.ox.ac.uk.
Heritage Events Michaelmas 2025
Heritage Pathway: ‘Everyday’ Heritage and Community Engagement
Tuesday 21st October 2025, 11am - 12.30pm, online - registration required
Our first session of the term will introduce this year’s Heritage Pathway theme of ‘Everyday Heritage’ through the lens of Oxford’s car history.
We will hear from project team, Maurice East and Dr Priya Atwal, who will share insights into community engagement and research into a fascinating chapter in the city’s industrial heritage from their new collaboration, The Cowley Car History Project.
New and seasoned Heritage Pathway attendees warmly welcomed from any subject area or degree level!
Speakers
- Dr Priya Atwal, Community History Fellow, Oxford University
- Maurice East, Local Historian
- Alice Purkiss, Heritage Partnerships Lead, Oxford University
- Dr Rachel Delman, Heritage Partnerships Coordinator, Oxford University
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Heritage Pathway: Everyday Oxford: Walking Tour & Workshop at County Hall
Wednesday 5th November 2025, 9.30am - 1pm, Clarendon Building, Oxford, OX1 3BG
Join us to explore Oxford’s ‘everyday’ heritage on a bespoke walking tour of the city followed by an interactive workshop at County Hall.
Through the case study of Oxford’s historic streets and landmarks, we will consider the role of heritage in placemaking, civic identity and social cohesion, and the role of the ‘heritage expert’ in relation to everyday heritage: whose heritage is ‘everyday’, and who gets to decide how it is identified and managed?
The session will be led by heritage specialists from Oxford Brookes University and the University of Oxford. Following the walking tour, we will introduce a variety of academic and professional training courses relevant to heritage on offer at Oxford's universities.
Speakers
- Dr David Garrard, Senior Lecturer in Historic Conservation, School of the Built Environment, Oxford Brookes University
- Dr Karl Kropf, Subject Coordinator, Historic Conservation, Senior Lecturer in Historic Conservation and Urban Design, School of the Built Environment, Oxford Brookes University
- Dr Martin Michette, Departmental Lecturer in Architectural History and Cultural Heritage and Director of the Cultural Heritage Training Programme, Oxford Lifelong Learning
- Dr Leah Clark, Associate Professor in History of Art, Oxford University
Meeting place: Please meet outside the Clarendon Building on the road side.
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Heritage Pathway Workshop: Oxford Health Histories
Wednesday 19th November 2025, 11am - 1pm, The Learning Centre, 00.018, The Schwarzman Centre
This in-person workshop will explore the relationship between heritage, the histories of mental health and wellbeing, and contemporary healthcare provision through the lens of Warneford 200, a live project commemorating the bicentenary of mental health services in Oxford in 2026.
Ever since its establishment as a charitable asylum in July 1826, through its reincarnation as an NHS hospital in 1948 and becoming the home of Oxford University’s Psychiatry Department in 1969, the Warneford Hospital has been supporting the Oxfordshire community’s mental health.
Next year, the bicentenary of the Warneford’s foundation will be marked by an exhibition led by the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and Oxford Health Charity. The exhibition will belong to a wider programme of county-wide heritage and arts events, created with direct involvement from those who use mental health services.
In this session, participants will learn more about the bicentenary celebrations in relation to the following themes:
- The role of oral histories and archival research for telling the histories of mental health and informing contemporary practice
- The therapeutic qualities of the arts and heritage
- Participatory approaches to health histories and heritage
Content warning: Please note that this session will explore themes of mental health and wellbeing from both historical and contemporary perspectives.
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Heritage Pathway Trip: Heritage in action at Birmingham Cathedral
Wednesday 3rd December 2025, 9am - 5pm, Birmingham Cathedral
Join us for this term’s trip to Birmingham Cathedral where we will meet the teams opening, conserving and sharing this religious heritage site with local and international visitors alike.
The trip will introduce the significant role ecclesiastical sites play within the UK heritage landscape beyond sites of worship; from leaders in heritage skills development and research, to schools engagement and community programming.
Following a behind-the-scenes tour of the Cathedral, celebrated for its Pre-Raphaelite stained glass, we will be joined by a panel of experts who will share insights into heritage project design, delivery, conservation and engagement through major capital projects.
Speakers to include:
- Reverend Canon Andy Delmege, Birmingham Cathedral
- Josh Chana, Heritage Consultant, Chana Projects
- Kathryn Harris, Cathedral Architect, Nick Cox Architects
Please note:
- We will be travelling by coach which will pick us up at 8.50am on Woodstock Road, Close to the Schwarzman Building. We are planning to be back in Oxford at approximately 5pm.
- This course requires a £20 deposit which will be refunded once you have attended the course, or have cancelled your place at least 72 hours before the course start date.
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