The Tenth Annual AHRC International Conference took place at Queen’s College, Oxford between 15th-17th of September 2025.
During the nine-month planning process, the conference committee comprising students from the three OOC universities, organised all aspects of the conference with guidance from the OOC DTP team.
In addition to students from Oxford, Cambridge and the Open University, the conference brought together students from the Universities Stockholm, Cologne, and Toronto, the Australian National University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Vrije Universiteit Brussels.
Through our theme ‘Borders and Boundaries’ the committee hoped to foster an interdisciplinary environment inviting submissions that explored the intersections between cultures, languages, nations, and disciplines. We were blown away by the quality and sheer variety of abstracts received. Rather that grouping papers based on discipline or subject, sessions were curated based on key questions and perspectives which resulted in incredibly vibrant conversations between students.
In addition to student paper sessions, the programme included two keynote addresses by Dr Claire Wellesley-Smith and Dr Liza Griffin, a panel with academics from our international partners discussing the routes to academic posts in their respective countries and a sound room installation created and curated by committee member Fiona Brehony in collaboration with Simon James.
Delegates were also able to connect outside the conference through our social programme which included visits to the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Bodleian Library, a literary walking tour around Oxford and afternoon tea at the Ashmolean Museum. We also enjoyed discussions over meals in the beautiful surrounds of St Edmund Hall and Queen’s College.
The experience of being a committee member offered me great insight and experience into what it takes to organise an academic event at this scale. Most importantly, it gave me an opportunity to connect with fellow doctoral researchers on both an academic and personal level.
