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We are delighted to announce that Oxford will host an exciting interdisciplinary conference on the theme of natural theology. There is growing interest in this area within the natural sciences, philosophy, the humanities, theology, and the history of ideas. This conference will be an outstanding opportunity to hear leading speakers on these themes, and make contact with others intertested in the topic. The conference will review the question of whether the divine or transcendent can be known through nature, aiming to stimulate discussion of the scientific, theological, historical, philosophical and broader cultural aspects of this important issue.

The conference will be held at the University Museum, Oxford. This magnificent neo-Gothic Grade I listed building, opened in 1860, contains scientific collections gathered over a period of three centuries. It has historic links with the theme of natural theology, in that there was once a proposal to name the building the “Museum of Natural Theology”. It was the location of the famous 1860 British Association meeting, at which Samuel Wilberforce and Thomas Huxley clashed over the significance of Darwin’s theory of natural selection, published the previous year. We are pleased to announce that, subject to final confirmation with the University Museum, conference delegates will be allowed to tour the room in which the 1860 meeting took place.

The draft programme is now available: click here for details.