In the University There Must Be a Lantern: A Case Study from the School of Geography, University of Oxford, 1899–1914

Abstract This paper contributes to the growing body of work on the use of the lantern within university lecture theatres from the late 19th century. The emergence, at that time, of academic disciplines, such as geography, which embraced a visual aspect to their pedagogy facilitated the adoption of the expanding medium of the lantern slide. The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) was active in the expansion of the teaching of geography into the universities, and in this endeavour the University of Oxford became the first, in 1899, to include a separate department for the discipline. This paper examines the academic use of the lantern through a detailed study of a section of the Oxford School of Geography's teaching collection of glass lantern slides. It reveals the links with external bodies, including the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS), which were used as sources to acquire slides considered suitable for the illustration of academic concepts. It also suggests that this pedagogical use of the visual was further transmitted into the broader educational setting of secondary schools.