“Was du nicht alles zu erzählen hast!
So klein du bist, so groß bist du Phantast.”
Mephistopheles, in Goethe’s Faust II
2026:
Research Papers:
- ‘“In science we trust?”: Hagiography, science and the ethics of trust in the constructed public scientist’, European Society for the History of Science & History of Science Society Joint Meeting, University of Edinburgh, 12-16 July.
Proposed Panels:
- ‘Trust, Distrust, Faith and Disbelief’, with Robert Bud (Science Museum), Paulina Gennerman (University of Marburg), Mallory Hreor (University of Cambridge), Jaume Navarro Vives (EHU), ESHS & HSS Joint Meeting, University of Edinburgh, 12-16 July.
2025
Keynote Lectures:
- [title tbc], Cambridge University Entomological Society Symposium, November 2025.
- ‘Learning from Automata History’, Sogeti Executive Summit, Amsterdam, October 2025.
- ‘It’s a bug and a feature: Storytelling Insects’, Royal Entomological Society, Student Forum, 1 April.
- ‘How can historical automata help us think about AI?’, Autopilot Yes/No? VINT Symposium, 17 June.
Research Papers:
- “Too distrustful of female talent’ and ‘heartily tired of ladyauthors’?: The female history of the Society of the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge”, SHARP, University of Rochester, 7-11 July.
Conference Panel:
- ‘Women in Science—Communities of Authorship’, with Elizabeth Hoiem (U Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), Alan Rauch (U of North Carolina, Charlotte), Mary Ton, Kristen Wilson & Bethany G. Anderson (U Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), SHARP University of Rochester, 7-11 July.
2024
Keynote Lecture:
- ‘Parables for the Future: an integrated approach to narrative in history of science and science communication’, European Society for the Study of Science and Theology Conference, Split, Croatia, 28 August-1 September.
Research Papers:
- ‘The Library for the Young and constructing the language of Imperial Science’, History of Science Society Conference, Mérida, Mexico, 7-10 November.
- ‘Infants and Infantilised: The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge and publishing for the young’, British Society for the History of Science Conference, Aberystwyth, 10-13 July.
- ‘Insects, environmentalism, and Lewis Carroll’s didactic vision for children’, International Conference of Three Societies on Literature and Science, 10-12 April, University of Birmingham.
Invited Talks:
- ‘Phantasmagoria: The Victorian Wonderlands of Science and Magic’ with Melissa Ferrari, Los Angeles Breakfast Club, 30 October.
- ‘Something’s bugging me: Lewis Carroll and Victorian Entomology’, A Field Guide to Wonderland, Lewis Carroll Society of North America, Spring Conference, 20 April.
Proposed Panels:
- ‘Of chatty coal, belligerent bugs, and Alice in Atomland: Children’s Literature, Science, Education and Protest’, with Elizabeth Hoiem (U Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), Devin Griffiths (University of Southern California), International Conference of Three Societies on Literature and Science, 10-12 April, University of Birmingham.
2023
Keynote Lecture:
- ‘”My Work for God”: Lewis Carroll, Logic, and Religion”, 4th World Congress on Logic and Religion, Sinaia, Romania, September 3-8.
Research Papers:
- ‘“If I were a Beetle and had rolled over on my back…”: Lewis Carroll and compassion for insects as transformative agent in nature literature for children’, Transnational Animal Welfare Activism and the Victorians, University of Surrey, Guildford, 17 May.
- ‘Two sides of a mirror: Imagining national identity through Alice and Tourism’, Encountering Alice, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 25-26 April.
Invited Talks:
- ‘Science, Education and Children’s Literature’, University of Malmo, Sweden, 10 October.
- ‘Through the Wonderglass: Alice, Science and Medicine, in the Victorian Age and Beyond‘, Lewis Carroll Society of North America, 12th August.
- ‘Science, Religion and the secular Academy’, St George’s Church, Leeds, 24 March.
- ‘”Words matter: Metaphor, narrative and behaviour change, in risk and health communication around Covid-19″, Doing Trust in the Era of Crises and Catastrophes: Practices , University of Wuppertal, 19 January.
Proposed Panels:
- ‘Science for the People: Historical and Current Perspectives’, Panel Discussion, British Society for the History of Science, Digital Festival, 4 July (with Prof Jon Topham, Prof James Wilsdon, Prof Charlotte Sleigh, Stuart Prior)
2022
Research Papers:
- ‘Imperfect Futures: Imagining responses to Covid in the 2020s’, Roundtable: Martin Willis, Keir Waddington, Jim Scown, Agnes Arnold-Forster, British Society for Literature and Science Annual Conference, Manchester, April 2022.
- ‘Lewis Carroll’s Scientific Imagination, and his Fiction as Applied Logic’, Lewis Carroll’s Logic Workshop, World Congress on Universal Logic, Orthodox Academy of Crete, 1-11 April.
- ‘Science, Storytelling & Children’s Literature‘, History of Science Day, Science Museum, London, 5 May.
Invited Talks:
- “A Matter of Life and Death: Victorian Childhoods, and What We Can Learn from them Today”, University of Oxford, Department for Continuing Education, 13 March.
- ‘‘Parallels with the Pandemic’: Living through Coronavirus and World War Two – similarities and differences‘, with Brooke Rogers, Jo Fox, and Colin Philpott, University of York, 31 March.
- “Alice Through Time: How Alice became us”, University of Oxford, Department for Continuing Education, 18 July.
- ‘”Portfolio Careers” in STS?’, AsSSIST Summer School, University of York, 7 September.
- ‘The hagiographic instinct in the historiography of science and science communication’, Centre for the History of Science, Work in Progress Seminar, University of Leeds, 11 October.
- ‘The Moon, the Microscope and US‘, Museum of the Moon, Bolton Cathedral, 15/16 October.
- “Insect perceptions in the history of science & popular culture”, Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, UCL, 28 October.
- “An Insect’s Guide to Interdisciplinarity”, Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences Seminar, University of Birmingham, 16 November.
- “From Alice to Covid-land: Doing Critical Medical Humanities across the disciplines”, Medical Humanities Research Seminar, University of Leeds, 14 December.
2021
Research papers:
- “Science, scientism, and the hagiographic instinct of Covid-19”, Science & You Congress, Université de Lorraine, Metz, 16-19 November.
- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass & the Philosophies of Victorian Optical Culture, Through the Looking-Glass Sesquicentenary Conference, University of York 4-5 November [Online].
- “Be Bold, be brave, be true”- and why: The science of how Children’s Literature can really change the world’, CHS Biennial Conference with MCYS, “Children and Young People, Speaking Up and Speaking Out”, Manchester Metropolitan University, 18 June [Online]
Invited talks:
- “Vaccines: Their Narratives and Visual Communication in the history of science and science communication”, Guest Lecture & Seminar, Universität der Künste Berlin & University of Oxford, 15 December.
- “Alice in Wonderland through the Tourists Looking-Glass: A Short History of Alice as popular culture icon, marketing “Alice” & fan-tourism at Oxford”, Guest Lecture: North Carolina State University & University of Tsubuka, 18 November.
- “Effective Narratives of Hope in Climate Communication”, Catholics at COP26, 10 November [online].
- “New Tools for the Future”, with Prof Antonella di Santo, Bristol Festival of Technology, 14 October [online].
- “George MacDonald & The Poetry of Science”, with Prof Tom McLeish, George MacDonald Society Online, 7 October [online].
- ‘”Of Wasps in Wigs and Gnatter with Gnats: How Insects made Alice in Wonderland”‘, Cabinet of Natural History Seminar, Department for History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, 17 May [online]
- ‘Narratives of Covid-19 ‘, IRIHS Research Seminar, Nuffield Department for Primary Care, University of Oxford, 5 May [online].
- ‘Finding good Science Communication on God’s shore: Covid-19 through the lens of Victorian Natural History’, Exeter & Truro Diocesan Conference, 4 May [online].
- ‘Narratives of Conflict and Warfare’, York Festival of Ideas, 15 June [online].
- ‘Alice in Covid-Land: Narrative, Science and Fantasy, from the Victorians to Covid-19’, Birmingham City University Research Seminar, 12 April [online].
- ‘SciComm in Wonderland’, Interview at “Science Pub Quiz”, Heidelberg University [online]
2020
Research Papers:
- ‘Science, Church and Community in Times of Covid-19’, AHRC “Place & Community” conference, University of York [Online], 15 September.
- ‘‘Saints informed by science’: Identifying productive science-religion narratives in times of Covid-19‘, Christian Theology in the Midst of COVID-19, University of Winchester [Online], 17 June.
- ‘Marmite Fiction?: A historical perspective on environmental science, children’s literature and population health’, British Society for Literature and Science Annual Conference, University of Sheffield, 15-17 April [Postponed].
Invited Talks:
- ‘Algorithms, Storytelling & Identity in Covid-19’, SATSU, University of York [online].
- ‘Finding effective science-religion narratives in the Covid-19 Pandemic and Beyond’, South-East Bishops’ Conference, Church of England, 27 July.
- ‘Human Flourishing in Times of Stress‘, York Festival of Ideas, 12 June. [online]
- ‘What would Lewis Carroll Do? Why we should all read Alice in Wonderland right now’, Alice’s Day, Bodleian Libraries, Oxford. [postponed]
2019
Research Papers:
- ‘Of Moths, Chimney Sweepers, and Silent Springs: Storytelling Environmental Crisis and in the Victorian age and today’, ‘Extinctions and Rebellions’ BSLS Symposium, University of Liverpool, 14 November.
- Conversations with beetles: The struggle against Nature’s silence in Victorian and contemporary Cli-Fi for children, IRSCL Congress ‘Silence and Silencing in Children’s Literature’, Stockholm University, 14-18 August.
Invited Talks:
- ‘Elon Zuckermusk in Wonderland: AI, Humour & the Victorians’, ‘AI & Comedy’ (internal symposium for Comedians, Comedy Writers & Academics), St Peter’s College, Oxford, 7 December.
- “The Fairy-Land of Science: The Alice in Wonderland World of Artificial Intelligence”, Hol Lecture, Simon Langton Grammar School, Canterbury, 6th December.
- “How Victorian science books for children can still help us understand the world”, Worcester College, Oxford, 22 July.
- “‘Alice in Brexitland’: The ongoing political relevance of Lewis Carroll’s classic, for old and young”, Oxford Alumni Association, 20 July.
- ‘Timeless Alice: Alice’s Adventures in the modern world- from the fourth dimension to climate change’, Alice’s Day, Bodleian Library, 6 July.
- “Fables for Tomorrow: The child as interpreter of nature in times of environmental crisis”, Children’s Literature and Science Symposium, Edinburgh Napier University, 22 February.
- ‘Teraphs, Bee-Hives, Fairy-Folk: The Literature and Science of Victorian AI’, Mind and Automation Seminar Series, Queen’s College, Oxford [postponed].
2018
Keynote Lecture:
- ‘A Common Denominator: Reassessing the Carroll-MacDonald friendship through their science’, Lewis Carroll and George MacDonald: An Influential Friendship, Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy, 1 September.
Research Papers:
- “‘More than a figment of scientific fancy’: Redefining the Victorian fantastic through the history of science”, Scholars’ Forum on Literature and the History of Science, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, July.
- ‘Pattern, Ecology and the Fantastic Imagination of George MacDonald and William Morris’, British Association for Victorian Studies Conference, University of Exeter, 29-31st August.
Invited Talks:
- ‘The Art and Architecture of Alice in Wonderland’, Christ Church, Oxford, 5 July.
- ‘Lewis Carroll in Psychology-Land: Fantasy literature and its psychological journeys’, Bodleian Library Oxford, Alice’s Day & Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth Exhibition, 7 July.
- ‘A bug-hunt in Wonderland: the symbolism and science of Alice’s insects and their transformations’, with Christopher Jeffs, ‘Insects Through the Looking Glass‘ Exhibition & Alice’s Day, Story Museum, Oxford, 7 July.
- ‘A Machine as wonderful and complex as Man: Automata in Literature and Culture’, ‘Marvellous Mechanical Museum‘ Exhibition, Compton Verney, 27 September.
- ‘Alice’s Adventures in Oxfordshire: How the landscapes and environments of Oxford inspired Lewis Carroll’s Wonderlands’, Abingdon Arms, Beckley, 25 November.
2017
Keynote Lecture:
- ‘Alice is dead, long live Alice!’, “Say What you Mean, Mean what you Say” Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland Conference, Université de Mons, Belgium, 19 April.
Research Papers:
- “From Scotland to Utopia (via Hammersmith): William Morris, George MacDonald and the Utopian Aesthetic”, George MacDonald’s Scotland, University of Aberdeen, July.
Invited Talks:
- ‘Staging Madness: Lewis Carroll, Victorian psychiatry, and the science of acting’, 4 May, University of York.
- ‘George MacDonald at the Archive: An Introduction to MacDonald Resources Available at Public Archives’, George MacDonald’s Scotland, University of Aberdeen, Jul 2017.
- ‘How Science Made Wonderland’, Mansfield College, Oxford, 27 July.
- ‘Visualising the Water-Babies’, Heath Robinson Museum, London, 2 November (watch here).
Organised Panels:
- Round Table ‘Children’s Literature and Science’ (Presenters: Prof Laurence Talairach-Vielmas, Dr Melanie Keene, Dr Will Tattersdill, Dr Emily Alder, Kanta Dihal, Franziska Kohlt; Chair: Prof Martin Willis), British Society for Literature and Science Annual Conference, University of Bristol, 2017.
2016
Research Papers:
- “‘Dreams, that elude the Maker’s frenzied grasp’: The scientific search for identity in the visions of Victorian fantastic literature”, (Dis)Connected Forms: Narratives on the Fractured Self, University of Hull, 8-9 September, 2016.
- “Entropy of Mind: Psychology and the realistic wonderlands of the fin-de-siècle fantasies of George MacDonald and Lewis Carroll”, BAVS conference, Cardiff University, 31 August-2 September.
- “George MacDonald and his ‘Realistic Wonderlands’ of Science”, George MacDonald and the Cambridge Apostles, Trinity Hall, Cambridge, 20-22nd July.
- “People call me by dreadful names”: Children’s Literature, Psychology and the Subject of Death, Horrible Histories, SHCY conference, King’s College, London, 16-18 June.
- “’I hope you understand all the big words’: Striking the balance between science and narrative through fantasy in 19th century children’s literature”, British Society for Literature and Science, Annual Conference, Birmingham University, 7-9 April.
- “Shifting Identities: Visual and Literary Incarnations of Victorian Psychiatric Thought in adaptations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice”, Asylums, Pathologies and the Themes of Madness: Patrick McGrath and his Gothic Contemporaries’, University of Stirling, 16 January.
Invited Talks:
- ‘Alice through the Ages: The not-so-secret history of a literary icon’, Leipzig University, 15 December.
- ‘Lewis Carroll and the Architecture of Wonderland’, Christ Church, Oxford, 8 July.
- ‘Lewis Carroll and Victorian Psychiatry‘, Lewis Carroll Society, Art Worker’s Guild, London, 8 April.
Organised Panels:
- “Fractured identities, fractured visions: Dreams of literary modernities” (Panellists: Dr Kirsty Mills, Franziska E Kohlt, Dr Adam Fergus), (Dis)Connected Forms: Narratives on the Fractured Self, University of Hull, 8-9 September, 2016.
- “Consuming Fantasy: Science, Psychology and the Supernatural in George MacDonald and Victorian Fantastic Literature” (Panellists: Rebecca Langworthy, Dr Kirsty Mills, Franziska E. Kohlt; Chair: Mark Richards), BAVS Conference 2016, Cardiff University.
- “Explaining the World: Science, Children’s Writing and the (In-)Explicable” (Panellists: Dr Melanie Keene, Franziska E. Kohlt, Kanta Dihal), Horrible Histories, Children’s History Society Inaugural Conference, King’s College London, 2016.
2015
Research Papers:
- “Illustrating Alice, Then and Now: Victorian Visual Culture and the Politics of Modern Children’s Book Illustration & Adaptation”, NCRCL MA/IBBY UK Conference, University of Roehampton, 14 November (read write-up here).
- “Alice through the Magnifying-Glass: Lewis Carroll and the Victorian Sciences of the Mind”, Alice Through the Ages Conference, Homerton College, University of Cambridge, 15-17 September.
- “’We’re all mad here’: Lunacy, Lewis Carroll and Victorian Psychiatry”, British Society for Literature and Science Annual Conference, University of Liverpool, April 2015.
- “What Alice in Wonderland has got to do with Cognitive Sciences: Interdisciplinary approaches to Fantastic Literature”, Literature and Science Early Career Researchers’ Forum, TORCH, University of Oxford, 3 February.
- ‘Communicating Medicine in Graphic Novels: A Case Study from the Wellcome Collection’, Archives in the Age of Austerity, Sheffield Centre for Archival Practice, 18 November.
- ‘Death and Victorian Children’s Literature‘, DeadFriday (Halloween LiveFriday), Ashmolean Museum Oxford, 30 October (watch here).
- “Victorian Fantastic Literature and the Psychological Sciences: Lewis Carroll and George MacDonald”, Oxford Literature and Science Seminar, University of Oxford, English Faculty, 6 March.
Organised Panels:
- “Alice, Science and Narrative” (Panellists: Dr Melanie Keene, Franziska E Kohlt, Joshua Phillips, Chair: Prof Farah Mendlesohn), Alice Through the Ages Conference, Homerton College, University of Cambridge, 15-17 September.
- “(Dis)Placing Madness: Negotiating the Boundaries in Nineteenth-Century Mental Sciences and Literature” (Panellists: Kalika Sands, Erin Lafford, Franziska E Kohlt, Chair: Dr Jane Darcy), 10th Annual Conference of the British Society of Literature and Science, University of Liverpool, April 2015.
‘”I cannot promise to take you home”: Death and Victorian Children’s Literature’, Ashmolean Museum, 2015.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Sesquicentenary Talks:
- “Alice and the Victorians: Children’s Literature and Illustration in Victorian Britain”, Wonderday, Christ Church, Oxford, 13 November.
- “Lewis Carroll’s Alice & Victorian Children’s Literature”, Alice Study Day, Surrey History Centre, 7 November.
- “What has Alice in Wonderland has got to do with the Cognitive Sciences?”, ‘Blurbs’ Interdisciplinary Lecture Series, Brasenose College, Oxford, 28 October.
- “Alice Reloaded: Alice’s Afterlife in the Digital Age”, Alice150 Conference, New York, 11 October.
- ‘150 years of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, Emory University/ Regent’s Park College, Oxford, 27 July.
- ‘Pictures and Conversations: Victorian Children’s Books and their Illustrations’, Alice’s Day Oxford, 4 July.
- ‘Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Jewish Culture‘, University of Oxford Chabad Society, 3 July.
- ‘Alice and Fashion’, The Alice Look exhibition at Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood, London, 9 May, Alice and Fashion Conference“, Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green, London, 9 May 2015 (Panelists include Prof Will Brooker, Dr Kiera Vaclavic and Mark Richards).
2014
Research Papers:
- “‘My heart was sore, and in my brain was neither quest nor purpose’: Physiological illness and fantastic visions in the fin-de-siècle novels of George MacDonald & Lewis Carroll”, The Victorian Roots of Modern Fantasy, The George MacDonald Society, Magdalen College, Oxford, August 2014.
- “‘How slight the line, if line there be’: Visual perception and (un-)reality in Victorian psychology and literature. ” British Society for Literature and Science Annual Conference, University of Surrey, Guildford, April 2014.
Invited Talks:
- “The two go naturally together: Teaching Literature and Science at College and University level”, BSLS Teaching Symposium, University of Westminster, November.
- “Microscopes, Magic Mirrors and Holy Waters: Science, Religion and Fantastic Literature in Victorian Oxford”, Dinner Talk at Regent’s Park College, Oxford, July; invitation by Margaret Edson (Pullitzer Prize for Drama for her play W;t)
- “Down the Rabbit-Hole to the Centre of the Earth and Beyond: Magical Underground Journeys in Children’s Literature through the Ages.” Alice’s Day Oxford, July.
Organised Panels:
- “Seeing Things: Aspects of Perception in Science and Literature” (Panelists: Dr Will Abberley, Franziska E Kohlt, Laura E Ludtke; Chair: Dr Rachel Crossland), 9th Annual Conference of the British Society of Literature and Science, University of Surrey, Guildford, April 2014.
Invited Panels:
- “Thinking Ahead: 150 Years of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” – Alice’s Day 2014, The Story Museum, Oxford; Chair: Mari Prichard; Panelists: Tish Francis (Director Story Museum Oxford), Sarah Stanfield (Chairwoman of the Lewis Carroll Society), Franziska Kohlt (Lewis Carroll Society, University of Oxford).
2013
Research Papers:
- “Back to the Future: The traumatic Jet-lag of the Time-Traveller in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.” Dickens on the Move, Leipzig University, November 2012, Leipzig.
- “Upward and yet not Northward: Dream, Death and the Fourth Dimension in the Short Stories of H.G. Wells”. BOUNDARIES: University of Sheffield, School of English Postgraduate Colloquium, May 2012, Sheffield.
- “’It simply upsets the nerves’: Dreams, Spectres, Visions and the ‘English Connection’ in the Works of Ivan Turgenev and Fyodor Dostoevsky”. Cultural Cross-Currents, Birmingham City University, July 2013.
- “Dreaming Wonderland: The Construction of Imaginary Space in Victorian Children’s Literature.” Childhood and Space: Biennial Conference of the Society for the History of Children and Youth, University of Nottingham, June 2013.
- “Horrid King besmear’d with blood of human sacrifice: Man-consuming Machinery and Moloch as Dystopic Metaphor”, Cannibals, Cannibalism and Culture, University of Manchester, April 2013, Manchester.
- “Two worlds, so strangely one, yet so measurelessly wide apart: H.G. Wells’ and George MacDonald’s neurological adventures in wonderland.“ British Society for Literature and Science Conference, Cardiff University, April 2013, Cardiff .
Invited Talks:
- “‘Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe: Lewis Carroll – Master of Nonsense.” Alice’s Day Oxford, July (more info).
- “Through the Glass Darkly: Victorian literary journeys to the Other Side of human consciousness” Arts and Humanities Discussion Group, St. Anne’s College, Oxford University, January.
2012
Research Papers:
- “Back to the Future: The traumatic Jet-lag of the Time-Traveller in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.” Dickens on the Move, Leipzig University, November 2012, Leipzig.
- “Upward and yet not Northward: Dream, Death and the Fourth Dimension in the Short Stories of H.G. Wells”. BOUNDARIES: University of Sheffield, School of English Postgraduate Colloquium, May 2012, Sheffield.
Invited Talk:
- “Victorian Wonderlands Revisited”, The Lewis Carroll Society, March, London.
2011
- “Into the XBOX and what Alice found there: American McGee’s Alice Madness Returns”. The Afterlife of Alice, Anthony Burgess Foundation, December 2011, Manchester.
Dr Franziska Kohlt 