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 Hilary 2025
Heritage Workshop: Creativity, Heritage & Place
Wednesday 12th February 2025, 11am - 2pm, Colin Matthew Room, Radcliffe Humanities
This in-person workshop with curators, researchers and audience engagement teams from Oxford and English Heritage will explore how heritage sites have – and continue to – inspire creativity within communities.
Introducing the case study of a new collaborative research project, ‘Inspiring Voices: Poetry, Heritage and Community,’ the session will encourage participants to consider creative practice as a form of interpreting and engaging with historic sites.
Book now
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Expert Panel Discussion: Culture & Heritage Careers
Friday 14th February 2025, 12pm - 1.15pm, Online - registration required
Join the Careers Service exciting panel event about careers in the arts, culture, and heritage sector. This is an exclusive and unique opportunity to hear from professionals across the sector, talk about their careers, offer advice about developing relevant skills and finding work experience and jobs.
One of the panellists will be Heritage Partnerships Coordinator Dr Rachel Delman. Further panellists to be confirmed closer to the date.
This event is run by the Oxford University Careers Service. You will need to login to CareerConnect to find out more about the course, and to register for it. The button below will take you to your CareerConnect login page, and then to the course information.
Book now
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Careers in Arts and Heritage: Heritage and the Law
Tuesday 4th March 2025, 11am - 1pm, Online - registration required
Who owns the past? How should heritage be protected? Who makes these decisions, and how are they regulated? How does the law relate to heritage in the context of war, colonialism and other forms of cultural loss?
This session will introduce the complex world of museums, heritage and the law with two speakers from the renowned Institute of Arts & Law who will share insights from their own careers in the sector. We will also be joined by colleagues from the University's Careers Service who will share helpful tips and opportunities for careers support at Oxford.
Speakers:
- Emily Gould, Assistant Director, Institute of Arts and Law
- Dr Rebecca Hawkes Reynolds, Assistant Researcher, Institute of Arts and Law
Book now
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Heritage Pathway trip: Behind the Scenes at Blenheim Palace
Wednesday 12th March 2025, 9.30am - 4.30pm
Blenheim Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the only non-Royal palace in England. Built by the Dukes of Marlborough in the 18th century, it is considered the finest example of Baroque architecture in the UK.
Researchers at Oxford have been working with Blenheim to help tackle the major challenges facing the site today, including responses to climate change and shifting audience needs and expectations. Join us for this behind-the-scenes visit where we will explore the site’s many layers, hear from Blenheim staff and Oxford researchers working on the collaboration, and find out more about learning and engagement opportunities at this leading heritage attraction.
Exact timings will be shared closer to the date, but we hope to meet outside the Radcliffe Humanities building at 9.30am to take a bus to Blenheim Palace. We are planning to be back in Oxford at approximately 4.30pm.
Please note, this visit 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.
Book now
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