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Centre for Intellectual History
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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. 
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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.
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Besterman Lectures

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

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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.
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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.
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HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal, A New International Humanitarian Order: Dignity for All

02 December 2026
Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies
Tolstoy as Historian

War & Peace Reading Group: Week 8

03 December 2026
18th Century World Map by Georg Matthaus Seutter

Early-Career Workshop with Professor Kapil Raj

03 December 2026
Global Intellectual History Seminar