Lectures

The University of Oxford holds a number of prestigious annual lectures and events that bring some of the world's leading scholars to Oxford. Some of these lectures are dedicated to intellectual history whilst others are often of great interest to the community of intellectual historians at Oxford. On this page you can explore the links to find out more information. We also include details for upcoming lectures on our Events page.

The Carlyle Lectures

Dedicated to the History of Political Thought, these annual lectures cover a range of periods and geographical locations. Past lecturers include Quentin Skinner, Melissa Lane, Annabel Brett and Samuel Moyn.

Besterman Lectures

The Besterman Lectures in Enlightenment studies are hosted by the Voltaire Foundation and named after its founder, Theodore Besterman.

The Lyell Lectures

The Lyell Readership in Bibliography is endowed by a bequest from James Lyell (1871–1948). Each year since 1952, a distinguished scholar has been elected to deliver the lectures, usually six in number, on any topic of bibliography, broadly conceived.

The Isaiah Berlin Lectures

The Isaiah Berlin Visiting Professorship brings leading scholars in the history of philosophy or history of ideas to Oxford for a term in which they give a series of lectures.

The Dacre Lectures

Created in honour of Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, Regius Professor of History at Oxford (1957-1980).

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The James Ford Lectures in British History

The Ford Lectures in British History were founded by a bequest from James Ford, and inaugurated by S.R.Gardiner in 1896-7. Since then, an annual series has been delivered over six weeks in Hilary term.

Maria Floruțău, Beyond the metropolis: Enlightenment learned societies in Batavia, Calcutta, and Manila

25 November 2026

Enlightenment Workshop

Steve Monroe (National University of Singapore), Mirages of Reform: The Politics of Elite Protectionism in the Arab World

25 November 2026

Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies

War & Peace Reading Group: Week 7

26 November 2026

Georgios Giannakopoulos (University of London):Interpreting Liberty: Empire, National Questions and the Politics of Knowledge at Europe’s Southeastern Frontiers

30 November 2026

Oxford Political Thought Seminar

18th Century World Map by Georg Matthaus Seutter

Rosario López (University of Málaga), J.G.A Pocock and the Politics of Going Global

01 December 2026

Global Intellectual History Seminar

Kapil Raj (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris), Bringing the Elephant into the Room: Garcia de Orta's Colóquios (1563) and the Circulation of Knowledge in the Indian Ocean

02 December 2026

Global Intellectual History Seminar and the Iberian History Seminar