Return to the City of Dreaming Spires: From Christian Frederick Cole to the New Black Oxford

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Return to the City of Dreaming Spires: From Christian Frederick Cole to the New Black Oxford

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 Saturday 7 November 2026

  14.00–15.00 (UK time)

 At the Weston Library and online

  Free, all welcome

Book – attend in person

Book – watch livestream

About the event

Award-winning historian and creative producer Pamela Roberts explores the significant and often overlooked histories of Black scholars at the University of Oxford. Drawing on her new book, the updated and expanded edition of Black Oxford: The Untold Stories of Oxford University’s Black Scholars, she traces a powerful journey from the pioneering achievements of Christian Frederick Cole, the university’s first Black scholar, to today’s generation of Black scholars reshaping academia. Through narratives of achievement, resistance, caricature, visibility, and belonging, the talk examines how Oxford’s past continues to shape its present. It highlights the importance of recovering these histories while reflecting on legacy, representation, and the evolving meaning of Black intellectual life within a world-leading university.

Pamela will be signing and selling copies of her book in Blackwell Hall from 15.00 – 16.00.

Speaker

Pamela Roberts is an award-winning creative producer, historian, and founder of Black Oxford Untold Stories, a pioneering initiative that uncovers and celebrates the hidden histories of Black scholars at the University of Oxford through lectures, creative projects, and bold, innovative public engagement. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Historical Society. Roberts has contributed to BBC History Magazine, academic journals, and Oxford University Press reference works.

Event information

  • This event is free and open to all.

Attend in person

Watch livestream

  • You can also watch the livestream of this event on Zoom. You will receive instructions for joining the Zoom webinar in your confirmation email once you have booked your place. 
  • All times listed are UK time (GMT). 

Book tickets

 7 November 2026

 14.00–15.00

     Free, all welcome

 At the Weston Library and online

Book – attend in person

Book – watch livestream


Contact

publicengagement@bodleian.ox.ac.uk


More information


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