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Uncomfortable Oxford
Company typePrivate limited Company
GenreTour guide organisation
Social enterprise
Founded2018
FounderPaula Larsson & Olivia Durand
Headquarters
Oxford
,
UK
Area served
England
Key people
Waqas Mirza (Executive Director)
DivisionsUncomfortable Cambridge (2022) Uncomfortable York (2023)
Websitehttps://www.uncomfortableoxford.com
Oxford's Pitt Rivers Museum is one of several academic institutions in Oxford working in tandem with Uncomfortable Oxford to teach the public about British imperial history

Uncomfortable Oxford LTD is a social enterprise and tour guide organisation operating in the city of Oxford, England, with sister branches in York and Cambridge. Founded in 2018 by Oxford University DPhil history students, the goal of the tours was to highlight the history of imperialism, gender and class inequalities within the city. The organisation also creates podcasts, blog articles, runs workshops and outreach programs, and hosts public lectures.

In 2022 a second branch was founded in Cambridge called Uncomfortable Cambridge, and in 2023 a branch in York was founded called Uncomfortable York.

History

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Founding and origin

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Uncomfortable Oxford was founded in late 2018 by two history DPhil students belonging to the University of Oxford,[1] Paula Larsson and Olivia Durand,[2] with the goal of highlighting the city's links to imperialism, gender and class inequality.[3][4] Both students met each other at a Public Engagement with Research Summer School in 2018, led by The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH). Here they drafted plans for walking tours of Oxford which would raise discussions on imperialism, inequality, and oppression, using tours highlighting the city's built environment. According to Oxford University's Faculty of History, guided walking tours of this nature were rare throughout the UK and had never before been given in Oxford, though similar tours existed in Bristol, London, and Liverpool.[5]

First walking tour

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The first Uncomfortable Oxford tours were given the city's Ideas Festival in 2018, wherein 300 people took in the guided walking tours featuring landmarks with connections to colonialism such as The Codrington Library, Rhodes House, Oriel College's statue of Cecil Rhodes, the Tirah Memorial in Bonn Square, the Weston Library, and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. These tours involved over 300 people and raised £750 in tips, all of which was donated to a local charity called Homeless Oxfordshire.[5]

Further activity

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In 2019 Uncomfortable Oxford received a High Commendation from the Oxford University Vice Chancellor's Social Impact Awards for "exceptional achievement and commitment to positive social change",[6] for which it was awarded with funding from the AHRC-TORCH which was awarded by The Oxford Centre for the Research in the Humanities.[7]

Oxford city tours

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Uncomfortable Oxford holds various tours in addition to seasonal and specialist events, though the themes and routes change regularly. Examples of the tours offered by Uncomfortable Oxford include;[7][8]

  • The Uncomfortable Oxford Tour - An introduction to Oxford's historical legacies of inequality, violence, and imperialism, including war memorials, statues, and discussions on the politics of memorialisation.
  • The Oxford and Empire Tour - Highlights links between imperialism and Oxford University, including how the university helped facilitate the expansion of the British Empire.
  • Follow the Money - Covers ethical debates concerning the funding sources of Oxford's academic institutions.
  • Uncomfortable Literature - Focuses on Oxford's publishing and literature history as well as highlighting authors history has overlooked due to their gender, race or nationality.
  • Uncomfortable Ashmolean Tour - A tour which takes place within Oxford University's Ashmolean Museum, which question the narratives of museum displays.

Due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic Uncomfortable Oxford began hosting online tours within video meetings using 360 camera angles of Oxford landmarks to illustrate their subjects.[9] According to the Times of Malta, over 20,000 people had participated in Uncomfortable Oxford walking tours between 2018-2023.[10]

Other activities

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Though guided walking tours of Oxford are the central focus of Uncomfortable Oxford's activities, the organisation has branched out into projects involving podcasts, hosting history lectures, and has a run a number of workshops and outreach programs.[11]

Collaborations with Oxford institutions

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Uncomfortable Oxford has conducted numerous collaborations with a large number of Oxford institutions including; Pitt Rivers Museum, Project SOUP, Branch Up [Oxford Hub], Wadham College, the Oxford Climate Justice Campaign, Experience Oxfordshire, the Bodleian Library, the Department of Geography, and the Welcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities.[12] The Ashmolean Museum sponsored Uncomfortable Oxford tours of their museum.[13]

In late 2020 Uncomfortable Oxford started to conduct collaborations with the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford to highlight the work of female anthropologists who had worked within Oxford.[14]

Reception

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In 2019 The Oxford Student gave a positive review, remarking the tours were a rewarding experience despite the solemn atmosphere,[15] before giving a second positive review in 2022.[16] In 2020 The Washington Post gave a review of Uncomfortable Oxford highlighting how open discussions were built into the design of Uncomfortable Oxford tours.[17]

In 2023 the Oxford University student newspaper Cherwell gave a glowing review of Uncomfortable Oxford tours, saying that the organisation "leads fantastic tours around the university, seeking to generate discussions about racial inequality, gender and class discrimination, and the university's Imperial legacy."[18] That same year, following an invitation from Uncomfortable York, the student newspaper York Vision gave a positive review of one of their tours, describing the experience as "an immensely thought-provoking and educational experience."[19]

Sister branches

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Cambridge (2022)

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In April 2022 a new branch of Uncomfortable Oxford was founded in the English city of Cambridge under the name Uncomfortable Cambridge,[20] and was launched alongside Cambridge Festival. The first batch of tours were free entry, with guests being encouraged to instead donate to a homeless charity called Jimmy's Cambridge.[21]

York (2023)

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In May 2023 another branch was founded in York, England,[22] with support from both the Rowntree Society and the University of York's Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past (IPUP).[23]

Further reading

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References

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  1. ^ Duke, Imogen (7 January 2020). "1000s attended 'Uncomfortable Oxford' history events in 2019". Cherwell. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Oxford and Empire Network: Olivia Durand". oxfordandempire.web.ox.ac.uk/. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  3. ^ Mararike, Shingi (25 August 2019). "Step this way to discover Oxford's unpalatable past of imperialism and inequality". The Times. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  4. ^ Cassidy, Tiffany (28 February 2020). "In Britain, these Oxford walking tours focus on often-glossed-over parts of the city's history". Washington Post. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  5. ^ a b "The Uncomfortable Oxford Tour". Faculty of History, Oxford University. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  6. ^ Hub, Oxford (11 June 2019). "Vice-Chancellor's Social Impact Awards 2019". Oxford Hub Blog. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  7. ^ a b Larsson, Paula; Durand, Olivia (10 January 2020). "Uncomfortable Oxford". The Oxford Research Center in the Humanities. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  8. ^ Clark Nevola, Gaia (4 October 2020). "A Walk with Uncomfortable Oxford". The Oxford Blue. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  9. ^ University, Standford (23 November 2020). "Uncomfortable Oxford Tour". Stanford University. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  10. ^ "In UK, tourists discover darker side of Oxford and Cambridge". Times of Malta. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Uncomfortable Oxford: Hidden Histories Tour". The Oxford Student. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  12. ^ Oxford, Enterprising (2019). "Oxford Case Studies – Uncomfortable Oxford". eship. ox. ac. uk - Oxford University. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  13. ^ "UNCOMFORTABLE ASHMOLEAN TOURS". Ashmolean Museum. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  14. ^ Art, Oxford, Modern (7 November 2020). "Uncomfortable Oxford: Untangling Narratives". Modern Art Oxford. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  15. ^ Davis, Grace (17 February 2019). "An 'uncomfortable tour' of colonial Oxford". The Oxford Student. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  16. ^ Stevens, Abigail (25 March 2022). "Uncomfortable Oxford: Hidden Histories Tour". The Oxford Student. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  17. ^ Cassidy, Tiffany (28 February 2020). "In Britain, these Oxford walking tours focus on often-glossed-over parts of the city's history". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  18. ^ Lintern, Meg; Lazar, Matus (16 January 2023). "Oxford and Empire: An "uncomfortable" history". Cherwell. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  19. ^ Bassford, Jacob (5 June 2023). "How to Talk About York's Past: The Uncomfortable York Tour". York Vision. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Cambridge Walking Tours | Uncomfortable Cambridge | England". UncomfortableCam. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  21. ^ McCrum, Kirstie (7 April 2022). "'Uncomfortable' walking tours coming to Cambridge". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  22. ^ "Who we are?". uncomfortableyork.com. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  23. ^ "The Uncomfortable York Tour". yorkfestivalofideas.com. 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
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