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The James Ford Lectures 2026: The Language of Social Science in Everyday Life
The Ford Lectures in British History were founded by a bequest from James Ford, and inaugurated by S.R.Gardiner in 1896-7. Since then, an annual series has been delivered over six weeks in Hilary term. They have long been established as the most prestigious series in Oxford and an important annual event in the History Faculty calendar.
Though sometimes elected from among the Oxford History Faculty, the Ford Lecturer is often a distinguished visitor from elsewhere in the United Kingdom, or further afield. Towards the end of the series, the Lecturer generally convenes a seminar for faculty members and students, where the themes and ideas of the series are discussed.
The lectures alternate between medieval, early modern and modern history. They bring the opportunity for distinguished scholars to present their work to an Oxford audience, in a scholarly but accessible way. The attendance, which is often very large, habitually includes people from the local community as well as many from outside Oxford.
The Lectures invariably result in important books, many of them classic and pioneering works of British history.
Hilary Term 2026: The Language of Social Science in Everyday Life by Professor Peter Mandler (Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge)
These lectures chart the spread and use of the language of social science into everyday life in twentieth-century Britain. As a religious language for orienting the self and its relations to others went into decline, and as modern life became more mobile and complex, new tools were taken up to meet the challenges of everyday life: to anatomize and characterize the self, to chart its progress across the life-course, to make palpable modernity’s many ‘invisible structures’ and ‘imagined communities’, to compare personal experiences to the experiences of others, and to address private problems with new concepts, new devices, new therapies. Psychology, Sociology, Economics and Politics will feature prominently, alongside consideration of Anthropology, Social Medicine, Literature, History and Philosophy.
Type: Seminar Series
Timing: Thursdays at 17:00, Weeks 1-6
Web Address:
https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/james-ford-lectures-british-history
Organising department: Faculty of History
Talks:
Thursday 22 January 2025
Lecture 1: Foundations
Date: 22 January 2026, 17:00 - 18:00
Speaker
:
Professor Peter Mandler (Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge)
Venue: Examination Schools, 75-81 High Street OX1 4BG
Venue Details: South School
Organisers:
TBA
Hosts:
TBA
Thursday 29 January 2025
Lecture 2: Media
Date: 29 January 2026, 17:00 - 18:00
Speaker
:
Professor Peter Mandler (Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge)
Venue: Examination Schools, 75-81 High Street OX1 4BG
Venue Details: South School
Organisers:
TBA
Hosts:
TBA
Thursday 5 February 2025
Lecture 3: Self
Date: 5 February 2026, 17:00 - 18:00
Speaker
:
Professor Peter Mandler (Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge)
Venue: Examination Schools, 75-81 High Street OX1 4BG
Venue Details: South School
Organisers:
TBA
Hosts:
TBA
Thursday 12 February 2025
Lecture 4: State and Economy
Date: 12 February 2026, 17:00 - 18:00
Speaker
:
Professor Peter Mandler (Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge)
Venue: Examination Schools, 75-81 High Street OX1 4BG
Venue Details: South School
Organisers:
TBA
Hosts:
TBA
Thursday 19 February 2025
Lecture 5: Self and Society
Date: 19 February 2026, 17:00 - 18:00
Speaker
:
Professor Peter Mandler (Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge)
Venue: Examination Schools, 75-81 High Street OX1 4BG
Venue Details: South School
Organisers:
TBA
Hosts:
TBA
Thursday 26 February 2025
Lecture 6: Self vs. Society
Date: 26 February 2026, 17:00 - 18:00
Speaker
:
Professor Peter Mandler (Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge)
Venue: Examination Schools, 75-81 High Street OX1 4BG
Venue Details: South School
Organisers:
TBA
Hosts:
TBA
Editors:
Laura Spence,
Belinda Clark
