Sunday, 13 April 2025
14:30
£16 adults, £12 seniors/students, £8 youths (12-17 years), under 12s go free
Booking required. Please visit the Uncomfortable Oxford website to book tickets.
About the event
The term ‘Natural History’ might lead us to believe that the collections and research at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History are purely ‘natural’ and scientifically objective. This museum tour will challenge your understanding of science and scientific knowledge as we walk you through the main exhibits on a unique guided tour. The museum hosts a wide array of natural specimens gathered from a variety of contexts and preserved with a specific purpose. In this museum tour, your guide will encourage you to question the way we understand nature, highlighting unseen biases and the influence of human perspectives on collections and displays.
Throughout this museum tour, we delve into the intentions and implications of the museum’s collections. By flipping the lens from a ‘natural’ approach to an ‘unnatural’ construction, we explore the historical and ideological underpinnings of natural history museums, revealing a narrative shaped by human influence and selective choice.
Meet outside the front entrance of the Natural History Museum.
Please note that the tour length sometimes runs over depending on tour guide and group engagement.
About the speaker
This tour was commissioned by the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and developed through consultation with its curators. It was researched and designed by two doctoral scholars at the University of Oxford and is run by academics who specialise in the topics discussed.
Accessibility information
| Wheelchair accessible? |
Yes |
| Hearing loops? |
No |
| Seating? |
Yes |
| Refreshments? |
No |
| Flashing lights? |
No |
| Loud noises? |
No |
For more information, please visit our accessibility webpage.
