Knowledge belongs to us all
Home of the humanities
The world’s questions have never been bigger, but that means the humanities have never held more wisdom. At the University of Oxford, humanities span the whole human spectrum, from ancient and modern languages to music and art. The Schwarzman Centre is home to seven of its renowned faculties, institutes, and research centres.
Faculty of English Language and Literature
Oxford’s English Faculty has nurtured the world’s brightest voices, from Hermione Lee to Hari Kunzu. Under its discerning teaching and research, emerging writers, critics, and scholars of today study generations of literature, film, and language.
Faculty of History
This is the study of history, steeped in the University’s own. The medieval and modern have been studied at Oxford longer than almost any other university. Now, these teachings reach 1200 undergraduates and 500 graduate students.
Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics
The brilliance of language, history books to bots. From experimental research labs comes a stimulating teaching and research programme into Theoretical Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, and Historical and Comparative Linguistics.
Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages
Welcome to a world-leading centre for the study of European language, literature, and culture. From earliest times to the present day, the Faculty offers vast expertise on languages, literature, film and culture across French, German, Italian, Modern Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Polish and Czech.
Faculty of Music
As an internationally renowned centre of teaching and research in all aspects of music, the Faculty is an exciting and stimulating environment in which to work and study. Our curricula reflect the spectrum of contemporary developments in music and musicology: from the 13th-century motet to global hip-hop; from ethnomusicology to music psychology; from historically informed performance practice to electroacoustic composition.
Faculty of Philosophy
One of the great centres for philosophy, just ask the greats. Oxford is counted in the world’s largest and most influential departments, where the philosophers of our time flock to speak, and the impact of its students speaks for itself in the shaping of modern ethics.
Faculty of Theology & Religion
Theology was amongst Oxford’s very first lectures. For over 800 years, the Faculty has engaged with the challenges of the century. In the 21st Century, researchers are seizing present and future issues to consider social cohesion, AI, and compassion in healthcare, while the Study of Religion evolves on.
Shaping the future through research
Explore the research institutes and centres at the University of Oxford. Here curiosity, collaboration, and innovation come together to shape new ideas and create lasting impact.
Institute for Ethics in AI
AI holds a mirror to human ethics. The Institute for Ethics in AI is here to help everyone better understand and consider the ethical realities of AI by offering independent, informed perspectives of philosophers, other humanities experts, technical developers, and users of AI in academia, business, and government.
Modern Slavery & Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre
Here, the highest level of research on modern slavery is funded and co-created, intent on impacting policy. Alongside survivors, academics, policymakers, businesses, and civil society collaborate on ways to solve this global challenge, focused on bringing the best possible evidence to shape change.
Oxford Internet Institute
The world’s cultural, economic, and political activity is moving online. From digital politics to the ethics of artificial intelligence, OII seeks to understand this transformation – tracking and tackling the societal implications of life online to inform public policy, advise industry, and improve real life for people everywhere.
The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH)
Human knowledge needs nurturing. A cornerstone of the University, humanities has its own dedicated interdisciplinary research centre. TORCH supports interdisciplinary research through funding, training, and networks to develop research projects and careers – amplifying understanding and impact of the humanities’ power with the wider public.